Pune engineer loses Rs 18 lakh in online task fraud

Pune : In October, a private company engineer fell victim to cybercriminals and lost Rs 18.16 lakh in two weeks. The engineer was seduced by the promise of earning a substantial amount of money by completing online tasks like liking videos.

The victim, a Pimple Gurav resident, claimed in his complaint filed with the Sangvi police that he had replied to a text on a messenger app that offered him good returns on completing tasks.

The victim reportedly told a Sangvi police officer that he had received a link on his phone to open his account on the app, allowing him to keep track of his investments and any profits he made from tasks completed. He claimed that after that, the victim was included in an app group. At first, he was assigned a few tasks. The thieves gained the victim’s trust by transferring a small amount to his bank account.

The victim was then instructed to invest in additional online tasks in order to receive additional commission. The victim followed the crooks’ instructions and kept investing the amounts. The victim’s app account displayed his profit.

But each time he attempted to take this money out, the scammers would advise him to make more investments. The victim transferred Rs 18.16 lakh to the specified bank accounts in a span of 15 days.

Shreyas Vange