Sadhguru Deepfake Ads: The Fake Videos Selling Scams

Are the Sadhguru trading and arrest videos real?

It is an ordinary evening. You are watching a talk by a teacher whose words have helped you through hard years. The next video looks the same: his voice, his beard, his calm. He says he has been trading with a firm, that the link is below, and that a small amount "will improve your finances greatly". You trust him. Why would he lie?

He did not. Someone made him say it. That is what makes this scam so painful: it borrows the trust you built with a real person, and spends it.

Whatever you think of Sadhguru's teaching, and opinions differ widely, you do not have to admire him to see what is happening here. His face and voice are being used without his consent to take money from people who trust him. The same is happening to film stars, cricketers and politicians. This page uses his case because it has the clearest public record: a police FIR, two court orders and a public statement from his foundation.

Our sources are The Hindu and Deccan Chronicle reports of 11 September 2025 on the Bengaluru case, the Delhi High Court orders as reported by LawBeat, The Hindu, India Today, The Indian Express and MediaNama in October 2025, and the Times of India on 29 July 2026. We do not name the victim.

What are the key facts about the Sadhguru deepfake ads?

What they are: AI-manipulated videos and images of Sadhguru used in ads and posts, mainly on YouTube, either endorsing fake investment schemes or falsely claiming his arrest (Isha Foundation statement, quoted by The Indian Express, 22 October 2025).

Biggest known loss: Rs 3,75,72,121 from a 57-year-old retired woman in Bengaluru, paid between 25 February and 23 April 2025 (East Division Cybercrime Police FIR, reported by The Hindu, 11 September 2025).

First court order: a "dynamic+" interim injunction by Justice Saurabh Banerjee on 30 May 2025, restraining rogue websites and unknown parties from misusing his name, image, voice and likeness for commercial gain (LawBeat, 21 October 2025).

Second order: on 14 October 2025, Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora directed Google to work with Sadhguru's side and "make an endeavor" to remove identical or similar content through its technology (LawBeat; The Hindu, 21 October 2025).

Who made them: unknown. The court record refers to "rogue websites" and unnamed defendants.

Still happening: in July 2026, Hyderabad cybercrime police summoned Meta over AI-generated investment ads using public figures (Times of India, 29 July 2026).

How did the Sadhguru deepfake scam take Rs 3.75 crore?

The Bengaluru case is the clearest public example of how a deepfake turns trust into transfers. Here are the steps, from the police FIR as reported by The Hindu and Deccan Chronicle on 11 September 2025.

1. The video. On 25 February 2025, while scrolling YouTube, the woman saw a video of Sadhguru. In her complaint she said: "I watched a video of Jaggi Vasudev stating that he had been trading with the firm, for which a link is provided below, and if you click it and input your name, email, and phone number for an amount of $250, your finances will improve greatly."

2. The small first step. She clicked the link in the description and entered her details for the $250 starter amount.

3. The friendly expert. A man contacted her, using several UK-based mobile numbers, and said he represented a trading company with "around 100 members as investors". He asked her to download a trading app.

4. The lessons. He taught her to trade over Zoom, and an associate took over the lessons when he was unavailable. She kept investing, believing she was building up profits.

5. The transfers. Between 25 February and 23 April 2025, she sent Rs 3,75,72,121 from her State Bank of India and HSBC accounts to "multiple unknown accounts" provided in the app.

6. The wall. When she tried to withdraw her profits, she could not. Only after checking with family and friends did she realise she had been cheated. She went to the police nearly five months after it began.

Look at how little the deepfake had to do. It appeared once, for a minute, to make the first click feel safe. Everything after that was an old-fashioned investment scam: a patient human contact, a convincing app, a growing balance on screen and money that could never come out.

That is why this kind of fraud is so effective, and why the defence has to start at the very first step. The fake video is the borrowed key. Once the door is open, nobody looks at the key again.

Why fake "Sadhguru arrested" ads?

The second type of fake is stranger, and it works differently. Instead of an endorsement, it is shocking news.

Isha Foundation said in its October 2025 press release that, despite the 30 May order, there had been "a surge in fake advertisements on YouTube", including "fraudulent ads falsely claiming Sadhguru's arrest and doctored videos showing him promoting fake investment schemes. Cunningly exploiting public trust in Sadhguru's name, these clickbait ads lure unsuspecting users to websites designed to harvest personal and financial data or promote bogus investment scams" (The Indian Express, 22 October 2025).

India Today reported on 21 October 2025 that it was pointed out in court that Google already had a policy against clickbait ads involving negative life events such as arrests or deaths, and that the court noted this policy "was not being effectively enforced" here.

Shock works because it makes you click before you think. A headline that a famous person has been arrested, has died or has said something outrageous is designed to get you onto a page, where the real aim is your contact details, your card number or a sign-up to a "platform". The arrest is the bait. The fake investment is the hook.

The same pattern turns up with other public figures. MediaNama reported in October 2025 that the most common repeating feature of celebrity "bait" ads it tracked was a spoofed or cloned version of the Indian Express website.

Who is behind the Sadhguru deepfakes?

Nobody has been publicly identified, and it is important to say so plainly.

What the court record says. The Delhi High Court's orders refer to "rogue websites" and to unknown future parties. In the 30 May 2025 order, Justice Banerjee wrote that, "in light of the violations already committed by the 'rogue websites' … using modern technology and AI tools", the court saw "every likelihood" that they would continue (LawBeat, 21 October 2025). The injunction was made "dynamic+" so that it could reach new sites as they appeared.

What the police record says. In the Bengaluru case, police registered an FIR against the man who contacted the victim. He used multiple UK-based mobile numbers (Deccan Chronicle, 11 September 2025). We found no public report of an arrest.

What we do not know. Whether the same group made the arrest ads and the trading videos, where they operate from, or how many people have lost money. Isha Foundation has not published a figure.

This is typical of deepfake fraud. The people who make the videos, the people who run the ads, the people who make the phone calls and the people who hold the bank accounts are often different, and spread across countries. That is why Sadhguru's lawyers went after the platforms that carry the ads as well as the unknown makers: the platforms are the one fixed point.

What do Sadhguru, Isha Foundation and Google say?

Isha Foundation. The foundation said it "continues to take proactive steps to remove such fraudulent material and safeguard individuals from falling prey to these scams," and urged the public "to remain vigilant and to report any fake advertisements or videos on YouTube falsely claiming that Sadhguru has been arrested by marking them as 'scam' or 'misleading'" (The Indian Express, 22 October 2025). It also said the court's order came after it highlighted "Google's failure to prevent the continued misuse of Sadhguru's name, image, and videos" (India Today, 21 October 2025).

Sadhguru's lawyers. His counsel told the court that a remaining YouTube video was "a gross misrepresentation and falls within the category of misleading representation identified by Google Ads products in its advertisement policy," and argued that India's 2021 IT Rules require platforms to deploy technology to catch identical infringing content (The Hindu, 21 October 2025).

Google. Google's counsel told the court that it had taken down the URLs named in the previous order and further URLs flagged by Isha Foundation, and that the company was willing to adopt a "collaborative approach" and keep cooperating on future material. The court allowed Google to file an affidavit if it faced "technological limitations or reservations" (The Hindu; LawBeat, 21 October 2025).

For balance: MediaNama, reporting the October order, called the deepfake complaints legitimate, and also noted that Sadhguru and Isha Foundation have taken critics to court, including a YouTuber's video essay and the Tamil outlet Nakkheeran, which MediaNama described as attempts to stifle critical voices. That is a separate matter, and nothing in it changes the facts here: the investment videos and arrest ads were fabrications, and real people lost real money to them.

How do you spot a fake guru video?

You may see more of these, because the tools are cheap and the trust is valuable. These tests work on any of them.

1. The request test. Does the video ask you to deposit money, click a link in the description, enter your phone number or download an app? A spiritual teacher's real message does not end in a trading account.

2. The source test. Is it on the teacher's verified official channel? If it is on an unfamiliar account or appears as an ad, assume it is fake.

3. The cross-check test. Search the teacher's official website and news sites for the same claim. A real endorsement or a real arrest would be everywhere.

4. The too-good test. Promises of "greatly improved" finances from a small deposit, or guaranteed returns, are the oldest sign of investment fraud, whoever says them.

5. The pressure test. A friendly stranger who calls you after you sign up, teaches you to trade and encourages you to add more money is part of the scam, however patient they seem.

6. The withdrawal test. If an app shows big profits but asks for a fee, a tax or another deposit before you can withdraw, stop. In the Bengaluru case, the money could not be withdrawn at all.

If you have older parents who watch spiritual talks on YouTube, have this conversation with them this week. The Bengaluru victim told police she was unaware of deepfake technology when she saw the video. Most people who fall for this have simply never been told that a face and voice can be faked. One conversation fixes that.

Where can you find real spiritual teaching, and honest tools?

The people hurt by these videos were looking for something good: a teacher they trusted, a little security, a calmer future. You deserve all of that from real sources.

If you want to understand what Sadhguru actually teaches, our guide Sadhguru: Inner Engineering for Joyful Living sets out the practices in his own framework, with no investment advice anywhere in it. For a broader look at how to judge teachers who ask for your money and trust, Twin Flames Universe: What the Record Shows About the Love Promise covers the warning signs of a control system. If a person keeps draining your energy and your wallet, Energy Vampires: How to Spot the Pattern and Set the Boundary will help.

And here is the honest version of what we sell, because it follows the rule this page is about: say who or what is speaking. Your Year Ahead is a reading computed by software from your birthday and the real sky over your next 12 months. No famous face, real or faked, endorses it. It has one price shown before you pay, no subscription and no upsell, and you can ask for a full refund within 30 days. It gives no financial advice, and its own page says it is a tool for reflection, not a prediction.

A real teacher's words can help you live more calmly with money, loss and uncertainty. No real teacher will ever send you a link to a trading app. Hold on to that one line, and share it with the people you love.

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