Cybercrime has been a threat to many and in what appears to be yet another incident of cyber fraud, a Mumbai man said to work for an IT company has been scammed out of a large sum of money in the name of a business opportunity. online income. The fraud occurred through a Telegram channel and website, both of which have now been removed. Mumbai Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) and launched an investigation. Let’s get to know how a Mumbai-based IT professional lost Rs 37 lakh in an online fraud claiming to offer online income opportunities.
Man loses fortune over a Telegram message
On November 22, a man living near Mira Road in Mumbai received a message on Telegram from an unknown woman who assured him that she could provide him with an online income opportunity. The 40-year-old man, whose identity has not been revealed, was seduced by the woman with the assurance that she can give him a good commission just by giving good ratings to her company’s products.
Another woman approached the man on Telegram and gave him a link to the website and asked him to log in and enter his details. The woman asked him to give 5-star ratings to different travel properties listed on the website. Once this is done, his earnings would start to reflect in his electronic wallet on the website.
The victim began performing the tasks on November 28 and noticed that her electronic wallet had begun to reflect her earnings. Now here comes a problem, the victim was asked to pay a premium charge each time she completes a task which will be added to her e-wallet earnings and will be given to her immediately.
He started paying the premium charges on the website and as of 3rd December he had paid a whopping sum of Rs 37.80 lakh on the website. His e-wallet showed that his balance was Rs 41.50 lakh that day which he planned to withdraw. However, his application was listed as pending on the website.
Later, the victim realized that she had been tricked only after learning that the company’s website and Telegram channels had been removed.
Also read: Another Jamtara! This is how the man from Delhi allegedly lost Rs 50 Lakh without receiving any text from OTP
Mumbai Police records FIR
After realizing that he had been scammed, the man went to the police station to file a complaint. An FIR was registered by the Mumbai Police under section 420 (entrapment and entrapment of goods) of the IPC and section 66D (entrapment by impersonation using computer resources) of the Information Technology Act .
Also read: Netflix user in Mumbai loses Rs 1.22 Lakh from his bank account while paying Rs 499 for subscription in online fraud
Since victims lose large sums of money online, we advise you not to trust any unknown person on any social media platform who ask you to do some specific actions regarding money. Make sure you never pay any fees for the assurance that we will pay you back.