Sponsored ads on X and Facebook are promoting a fake site impersonating the webpage of Indian newspaper The Indian Express, featuring a fake article falsely claiming singer Shreya Ghoshal was arrested for endorsing a secret investment platform.
BOOM found that the article directs users to a dubious webpage promoting a fraudulent trading platform which claims to double the investments of its users.
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Several users on X have also called out the scam ad popping up on their timelines.
A similar fictional story of Shreya Ghoshal reaching the 'end of her career' for revealing details of an investment platform is being promoted on Facebook as an ad using the Times Now logo.
Website Impersonates The Indian Express Webpage
On clicking on the link, a webpage impersonating The Indian Express appears on screen. The URL of the webpage however is not The Indian Express' official website which is indianexpress.com.
We then ran a reverse image search on the photo that shows protesters holding a placard that reads ‘Freedom Shreya Ghoshal’. The search showed that the image has been used on several other scam webpages, with the placard altered to use names of other Bollywood celebrities, including singer Neha Kakkar and actor Amitabh Bachchan.
Bizarre Story Of Shreya Ghoshal's House Arrest By Government
The fake article features a fictional and bizarre story about Shreya Ghoshal. It claims that Ghoshal was placed under house arrest by the Government of India after accidentally revealing an additional source of income during an interview on the programme "Mirchi Plus".
An excerpt from the article reads, "As a result, she has been placed under house arrest, and authorities have strictly prohibited her from accessing the media. The incident occurred during the broadcast of the program "Mirchi Plus" during which Shreya Ghoshal accidentally revealed an additional source of income.".
The article then states that the interview was taken off air and includes an imaginary transcript of an interview between actor Kareena Kapoor Khan and Ghoshal. The transcript has Ghoshal revealing a trading platform named Immediate 3000 Lasix that helped her "double her income."
We ran a reverse image search on the photo used in the article and found that it is a screengrab from a November 2024 interview of Ghoshal by Khan for Mirchi Plus. In the interview there was no mention of any such trading platform by the singer as claimed in the fake article.
The article then guides users to sign up and invest money on the site with a dodgy URL, claiming they would profit like Ghoshal, who initially invested Rs 21,000. However, this hyperlinked URL changes in the scam ads. It redirects users to various doggy trading platforms that have the potential to lure them to invest to 'increase' investments.
BOOM has previously fact-checked several such ads that have appeared on Facebook featuring fake articles impersonating news outlets like The Indian Express. These articles falsely claim that celebrities have endorsed trading platforms, urging users to invest as well.
Similar Bitcoin scams have been reported by BOOM, with fake articles impersonating The Indian Express and falsely claiming industrialists like Azim Premji and Mukesh Ambani have endorsed a particular investment scheme.
Incidentally, Ghoshal had posted on Facebook and Instagram stating that her X account was hacked on March 1, 2025.
BOOM has reached out to Ghoshal for a response, the article will be updated on receiving one.
