Woman cheated of Rs 5 lakh over ‘job offer from Australia’

According to police, the woman learnt from her colleague about an online job portal last year. She submitted her information on this portal and started getting calls regarding job vacancies.

In November 2019, she received a call regarding a job vacancy in the HR and administration department of a construction company in Australia, police said. The person who called the woman also arranged a telephonic interview with persons claiming to be HR employees of the Australian company, police said.

The fraudsters then gave her a bank account number asking her to transfer money into it for visa application fees, visa stamping fees, work permit, health insurance fees, travel allowance and other purposes, police said.

The woman transferred Rs 5,11,005 into this bank account between November and December 2019, hoping to get a job in the Australian firm.

But after waiting a few months, when she did not get the job, she lodged a complaint with the Pune City Police.

Police have booked unidentified suspects under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Information Technology Act.