A 33-year-old Khar resident was duped by a fraudster who contacted him on WhatsApp on the pretext of offering a part time job. The fraudster asked the victim to buy a membership and be eligible to earn over ₹50,000 a month working part time and also redeem the money enrolled for membership. Khar Police have booked the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.
According to police sources, the victim had received a WhatsApp message from a man identified as Abner, in December last year, who offered a part-time job. When the victim inquired about the profile of the part time job, Abner said that there is a job opening at SUPERLINK, wherein he will be given a free membership and tasks will be entrusted to him, which will be paid according to the membership. Since the victim was seeking a job after he lost one during the COVID induced lockdown, he showed interest in the proposal.
Police said that Abner then sent a link, asking the victim to download the app and register himself. To opt for a free membership, the victim was asked to enter his bank details and wire ₹100 and given a few tasks. These tasks were however cancelled and the man was asked to buy seven VIP memberships valued at ₹3.50 lakh, which was debited from his account. Meanwhile, his friend had also purchased a membership valued at ₹1.14 lakh.
A few days later when the man asked Abner for his cut in the membership task, he was given vague answers and asked to make a payment of 30 percent of his due money to avail the cut. Having realised that he has been duped, the man approached Khar police station and lodged a complaint against Abner and others. Subsequently, they were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act for cheating later last week.
