Andheri man losses Rs 8.59 lakh to ‘task job fraud’

Meanwhile, the city cyber police have appealed to citizens not to trust any such online ‘Complete Task and Earn Money’ jobs or ‘Like Video and Earn Money’ jobs. (Representational)

A man from Andheri lost Rs 8.59 lakh to cyber fraudsters who gave him the job of liking advertisements videos on YouTube and earning money. The victim was forced into taking on tasks involving depositing money in a given bank account and earning ‘commission’, said the police.

According to the police, the complainant, who works as a senior consultant for a Lower Parel-based company, realised he was a victim of cyber fraud after depositing lakhs of rupees. The Sahar police are investigating the online 'Complete Task and Earn Money' fraud.

As per the police, the complainant works received a message on  May 7 from a woman who offered him a job which she said would pay Rs 3000-6000 a day. After the complainant showed interest, the woman introduced herself and informed him that her company is into advertisements. She told him that he needed to like the ads of her company on YouTube and earn money.

The complainant followed the instructions, and after completing the task, Rs 180 was credited to his account. He then completed other tasks and subsequently received more money. As he was being paid regularly, he started trusting the system, said a police officer.

The fraudsters then added the complainant’s number to some Telegram groups, and gave him a bigger ‘paid task' of transferring money into a given account using UPI, in return for earning a commission. "He completed the task and earned the promised amount deposited in the virtual account opened in his name. He then began to get high-paying tasks and was added to VIP task groups VIP001 and VIP002, and his virtual account balance increased," an officer said.

After some time, the man expressed his desire to leave the group, but he was informed he could not and was given a new task. The pattern was repeated several times, the FIR stated. "When he was asked to complete the next task with a much larger amount, he objected to it and demanded his money be transferred to his bank account. He was told that if he leaves the task halfway, then his money would be deducted by half," said another officer.

The man was then given the next task of depositing Rs 2.50 lakh. This is when the complainant realised that he was being cheated, and approached the Sahar police station to file a complaint.

The police have registered a case against unidentified persons under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resources) of the Information Technology Act.

Meanwhile, the city cyber police have appealed to citizens not to trust any such online ‘Complete Task and Earn Money’ jobs or ‘Like Video and Earn Money’ jobs. “They are all frauds. Only the person who made the video and uploaded it to YouTube gets paid, and not those who like it. So, don’t fall prey to such jobs. They are a trap," said an officer from the Mumbai Cyber Police.

from The Indian Express https://ift.tt/if8XEKu