A retired state police intelligence department officer lost nearly Rs 11 lakh in a task-job fraud in which the cyber frauds tasked him with liking photos and videos in lieu of earning money. On September 13, the complainant, a retired police officer who lives in Byculla (West), received a WhatsApp call from a person who identified herself as Saloni Sinha and offered him a part-time job. When the officer asked her what the job would be, Sinha explained he would be given different tasks of liking photos and videos of individuals or companies or products on social media platforms and get paid for each task, states the FIR. The complainant found the job easy and interesting and expressed his desire to do the job. Sinha gave him a task, which he completed and sent screenshots of the same on a given telegram ID. Initially for two days, the complainant received a payment of Rs 38,380 for the different tasks he completed. The complainant was happy and fully trusted the job and proceeded further with multiple tasks, said police. He was later given prepaid tasks, in which he was given the opportunity to do bigger tasks and earn huge amounts. But as the category name suggests, for this, the candidate had to advance a certain amount as fee. According to the complainant, he earned a 'huge amount' after completing dozens of prepaid tasks. However, when he checked his bank, the amount did not reflect in his bank account like previous payments. He then demanded all his money back. To process the refund, the accused asked him to deposit Rs 3 lakh more. It was then that the complainant realised that he had been cheated. Between September 13 and 16, he deposited Rs 10.98 lakh into different bank accounts, said a police officer. The retired officer eventually approached police and filed a complaint. The Agripada police registered a case under relevant sections of Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act for cheating, impersonation, etc. and is trying to trace the fraudsters by obtaining details of the beneficiaries, said another police officer.
