Social media has become an important part of our lives, but we need to be cautious when talking to people we do not know online.
An incident in central Mumbai serves as a reminder of the dangers.
A 53-year-old resident, who sold his flat for a large amount, was scammed and lost all his savings of Rs 1.27 crore.
The Trap Unfolds
According to a Times of India report, the man's story began when he received a message on Telegram, a messaging platform, from a woman offering a well-paying part-time job.
Intrigued, he started talking to her. At first, the job seemed easy—rating and liking links of movies and hotels, and sharing screenshots of his actions.
He received Rs 7,000 for giving a positive review and rating to a hotel.
The scammers used this tactic to gain his trust. The scammers took advantage of the victim's trust and convinced him to invest his entire Rs 1.27 crore fortune in their fraudulent scheme, as per the report.
To proceed with the job, the woman asked for his bank account details and gave him login credentials for an e-wallet.
Believing he was making progress, he followed instructions and deposited Rs 10,000 into an account.
After completing tasks like rating a hotel website, he received earnings in his e-wallet.
The scam intensified when he was asked to rate a movie and deposit Rs 32,000.
Encouraged by his previous earnings, he complied. However, the fraudsters exploited technical glitches as an excuse to ask for more payments.
Falling for their trick, he sent additional money, eventually transferring a staggering Rs 76 lakh to different bank accounts provided by the fraudster.
Despite fulfilling all requirements, he never received the promised funds.
After realising that he had been deceived, he immediately contacted the police and filed a First Information Report (FIR).
After a preliminary investigation, it was found that the money was transferred to eight different bank accounts in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.
The police took quick action and froze the implicated bank accounts to mitigate the financial harm caused by the scam.
According to the FIR, the total amount involved in the scam was around Rs 1.27 crore.