Porbandar: A 42-year-old woman has filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police after she was allegedly cheated of ₹21.71 lakh through a Facebook advertisement purportedly featuring Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

It is learnt that Jayaben Abhubhai Vadher, a resident of Marutinagar in Porbandar and a saree handloom worker, came across a Facebook advertisement in March 2025 that carried the name of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The advertisement claimed that people could earn money from home by filling out a form, after which Jayaben filled out the form and submitted her details. Later, she got a call from an unknown number where a Hindi-speaking individual allegedly persuaded her to invest in the stock market. The caller allegedly claimed that Jaya could earn substantial profits. Initially, she declined the offer. However, during a third call, she was told that an investment of ₹18,000 would generate excellent returns. Falling for the proposed profit, Jaya transferred ₹18,244 online to a person identified as Puran Singh on March 21, 2025.

Later, a woman identifying herself as Rancy, hailing from Vadodara, allegedly began contacting Jayaben and guiding her on opening and closing trades. However, the calls were reportedly made from numbers beginning with the +44 country code of the United Kingdom.

Acting on the instructions of the scamsters, Jaya transferred money multiple times to various bank accounts and eventually lost a total of ₹21,71,220.

However, when she later suspected that she had been defrauded, Jayaben lodged a complaint through the 1930 Cyber Helpline on May 31, 2025. During the subsequent investigation, authorities managed to recover ₹10,77,597 through the refund process, returning the amount to the complainant in two instalments.

The cybercrime police are further investigating the case. DeshGujarat