Man looking for part-time job loses Rs 3.42 lakh to online job fraud

She allegedly asked the complainant if he was looking for a part-time job. When he inquired about the work, she told him that the candidates needed to work towards increasing the sale of the company’s online platform by completing various tasks, the police said.

“After the complainant showed interest in the work, the hiring manager sent him a link and asked him to create his account to start the work. On creating an account, the complainant first received an Rs 80 bonus,” said a police officer.

Later, the complainant was asked to make a Rs 200 recharge and buy a product. Following this, Rs 450 got deposited in his system’s account (eWallet). Trusting the company, the complainant completed one task after another, buying their products, making recharges, etc., the officer added.

Within a few days, the complainant, by spending Rs 2.4 lakh, had earned a total of Rs 5.13 lakh, and he could see the profit in his account (eWallet). When he tried to transfer this money into his bank account, he got an error message saying his request was declined.

When he asked Marry, she told him that if he wished to withdraw the money, he would have to pay 20 per cent tax or else he would not be able to withdraw the money, the police said. Since the complainant did not have money, he mortgaged his family’s gold and used it to pay the 20 per cent tax (Rs 1.02 lakh), the police said.

However, even after this, when he tried to transfer money from his eWallet to his bank account, his account got deactivated. He then realised that he had been duped. By then, he had already lost Rs 3.42 lakh.

He initially lodged a complaint at Diva police station but as he was duped in Andheri, the FIR was transferred to the MIDC police station for further investigation.

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

The police have started writing to the service providers, seeking details of the beneficiaries and bank accounts and further investigating the matter.