A job aspirant was duped to the tune of ₹2.57 lakh on the pretext of working as a sales agent for a commercial giant. The accused asked the complainant to make a series of payments. The Andheri police have registered a case of cheating against the unidentified accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.

According to the police, the incident occurred on August 23, when the complainant, who was unemployed at the time, received a message from an unknown number for a part time job with an e-commerce giant. The 34-year-old complainant initiated the chat and was informed that he will be remunerated in commissions over the purchases he makes from the e-commerce portal.

The complainant said in his statement, "Initially, I paid ₹200 and received a commission of ₹118. Believing the caller, I kept making payments in a series of transactions. Suddenly, I did not receive a commission. Upon enquiring, the unknown man asked me to make a large purchase to claim the money paid until now, which I obliged and paid ₹2.57 lakh." When the complainant demanded the money in return, the caller refused and the former realised he had been duped.

The victim, who was caught up in other work since the incident took place, approached the Andheri police on Monday and lodged a complaint with them. Acting on it, the police registered a case of cheating against the unidentified accused and booked him under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.

A senior official said that, since the complainant reported the crime much after the time of incident, it is likely that the accused had already withdrawn the money and destroyed the money trail. The nodal officer of the bank, however, has been approached to freeze the account and efforts to trace the accused are underway.