MUMBAI: A 33-year-old software engineer, who was lured into a part time job fraud case, ‘earned’ Rs 1,500 while giving rating to hotels online and ended up losing more than Rs 18 lakh.
The Cyber police of the city crime branch are probing the case and have written to banks asking them to freeze seven bank accounts which were used in the crime.
A police source said that the complainant, who works in a multinational consulting and information technology services company, had first received a WhatsApp message asking him if he was interested in a part time job.When he inquired, he was told that he will have to give rating to hotels. The accused told the complainant that their company had got the contract for the promotion of several hotels and hence he was looking for people who were interested in the part time job.
Police said that the accused sent a link containing details about a hotel and asked the complainant to give a rating. The complainant was asked to take a screenshot of the hotel rating and send it to the same WhatsApp number. The complainant gave a rating and followed the instructions, believing it was an authentic part time job. To his surprise, the complainant was paid Rs 200 just for giving rating to a hotel and sending its screenshot. In the next six transactions, the complainant received Rs 1,300 in his bank account.
Police said that the accused then instructed the complainant to create his Telegram account and join their group. The complainant followed the instructions. After joining the group, the complainant was offered a ‘paid task’ scheme. It was told that if he invested money, he would get more tasks to complete and could earn more money.
The accused also sent a link, gave the complainant his login and password where he could see a virtual wallet in his name after log. The complainant invested some money and could see his investment and profit in the wallet, said police. The complainant then began investing money to get more paid tasks and earn more profit.
In total, he invested Rs 18.34 lakh and could see a higher profit in his virtual wallet. When the complainant wanted to transfer his earnings / profit from wallet to his bank account, he asked the accused about it. However, he couldn’t get his money transferred to his bank account. This is when he realised something was wrong and approached the cyber police. An FIR against the accused was registered on December 2. Further probe is on.
The Cyber police of the city crime branch are probing the case and have written to banks asking them to freeze seven bank accounts which were used in the crime.
A police source said that the complainant, who works in a multinational consulting and information technology services company, had first received a WhatsApp message asking him if he was interested in a part time job.When he inquired, he was told that he will have to give rating to hotels. The accused told the complainant that their company had got the contract for the promotion of several hotels and hence he was looking for people who were interested in the part time job.
Police said that the accused sent a link containing details about a hotel and asked the complainant to give a rating. The complainant was asked to take a screenshot of the hotel rating and send it to the same WhatsApp number. The complainant gave a rating and followed the instructions, believing it was an authentic part time job. To his surprise, the complainant was paid Rs 200 just for giving rating to a hotel and sending its screenshot. In the next six transactions, the complainant received Rs 1,300 in his bank account.
Police said that the accused then instructed the complainant to create his Telegram account and join their group. The complainant followed the instructions. After joining the group, the complainant was offered a ‘paid task’ scheme. It was told that if he invested money, he would get more tasks to complete and could earn more money.
The accused also sent a link, gave the complainant his login and password where he could see a virtual wallet in his name after log. The complainant invested some money and could see his investment and profit in the wallet, said police. The complainant then began investing money to get more paid tasks and earn more profit.
In total, he invested Rs 18.34 lakh and could see a higher profit in his virtual wallet. When the complainant wanted to transfer his earnings / profit from wallet to his bank account, he asked the accused about it. However, he couldn’t get his money transferred to his bank account. This is when he realised something was wrong and approached the cyber police. An FIR against the accused was registered on December 2. Further probe is on.