Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The trend of duping people in the name of offering online jobs, assigning them tasks and giving them loans has registered a sharp rise in the city this year.
The data provided by district cyber cell revealed that 93 complaints pertaining to online jobs, task and loan frauds were registered by police this year. The complainants lost Rs 29.75 lakh to cyber cheats, officials added.
Ironically, only one complaint out of 93 was registered as an FIR and is currently under investigation. When asked, police officials said details about the accused were unavailable in other cases.
As for the lone case wherein FIR was registered, investigating officer Susheel Verma said complainant Haroon Khan, a resident of Koh-e-fiza, was approached by unidentified people on messaging application, where he was lured into liking YouTube videos in exchange for Rs 200.
The task providers then increased the amount to Rs 3,000 and credited the money into his bank account. Later, Khan was trapped into becoming a premium member and was added to a group on a social media application, where investment of Rs 1 lakh was sought from him. He was promised Rs 3 lakh in return. The fraudsters later told him that his money was withheld due to technical problems and sought more investment from him worth lakhs of rupees.
When he invested Rs 7 lakh more, the accused broke all contacts with him. Probe is on in the case and the details of the bank accounts of the accused have been identified, officials said.
99.9% Accused From Other States
Assistant commissioner of police (cyber crime) Sujeet Tiwari said majority of accused involved in such frauds were from other states and used fake documents to create digital bank accounts. Learning about them and their whereabouts was a herculean task. As a result, cyber personnel are always on toes and have to move out of Bhopal for probe due to which pendency of other complaints increases, he said.
'Will Request Centre To Ban Dubious Loan Apps’
The state government will request the Centre to ban suspicious loan apps. An SIT has already been formed to investigate the matter.
Home Minister Dr Narottam Mishra on Friday said those who have intimidated Vishwakarma family would be identified and stern action would follow. He added that a request would be made to centre to ban such loan applications.
