In recent weeks, Kannada celebrities have faced a new threat: cyber fraud. Veteran filmmaker SV Rajendra Singh Babu has tried to release his long-pending project Rakta Kashmir but fell victim to an elaborate scam.

Conmen, posing as buyers for the film’s Telugu dubbing rights, lured him into a multi-crore deal. What started as a negotiation over ₹2 crore turned into an expensive trap. The fraudsters claimed charges for agreement papers and processing fees, extracting ₹4 lakh online before disappearing. Babu was left with a blank agreement copy and a bitter experience. A complaint has been filed at the Yeshwanthpur police station.

If that wasn’t alarming enough, another well-known couple recently fell victim. Actor Upendra and his wife Priyanka had their phones hacked after Priyanka was tricked into dialling a code sent by fraudsters pretending to be a delivery service. The hack enabled scammers to take control of their WhatsApp accounts and send messages to close contacts, asking for urgent money transfers. Trusting the familiar names, some friends and family members sent money, only to realise it was a scam. The couple quickly alerted their fans on social media and filed a case under the IT Act.

These two incidents, one involving a senior director and another affecting a star couple, show how cyber criminals exploit both professional ambitions and personal trust.