Navi Mumbai: A 33-year-old Ulwe resident lost ₹ 24.08 lakhs to cyber fraudsters as she tried to work part-time at home to earn extra money.
The woman's employer assigned her the task of rating hotels online to attract customers. However, she was asked to pay first to start each of those tasks and on completion she was assured to get back the initial investment with a commission.
Job offer on Telegram
The complainant received a message on the Telegram app installed in her phone that informed her about the job and the proposal attracted her as she was working from home and thought she could take up the work.
An unknown person then added her to a group called “Champions” on the app. The complainant noticed that members in that group were talking positively which built her confidence.
Another unknown person informed her about the job description which included visiting www.travelnowbd and www.theomegatours.com websites and rate hotels. She was also provided with a login ID.
Complainant gets trapped
According to the complainant, she had to pay an initial amount each time before starting a task. However, over time, in order to get a bigger return, the initial investment turned big and without completion of the tasks, the money could not be returned.
After completion of the first task, ₹ 841 was transferred to her bank account. Later, she was asked to pay ₹ 10,000 for 14 tasks and for the next new tasks, ₹ 14,432. She transferred ₹ 24,432 and after completion of the tasks, she received ₹ 27,526 including ₹ 3094 commission. Over time, the investment amount became big and they put another condition of completion of other tasks to get back the previous investment and commission.
Complaint of fraud registered
The cyber fraudsters kept taking money and after a point, stopped responding. However, by that time, the complainant had already lost ₹ 24,08,729.
After realising that she was cheated, she approached the Nhava Sheva police and registered a complaint. The police registered a complaint under section 420 of IPC, and 66 C and 66D of the IT Act.
