E-Paper
Chandigarh resident duped of ₹7.44 lakh in work-from-home fraud
A resident of Dhanas was initially assigned simple tasks such as posting reviews, for which he was paid small amounts to gain his trust; later he was lured into transferring money for investment, mentions complaint
A resident of Dhanas has alleged that he was cheated of over ₹7.44 lakh in an online work-from-home fraud operated through WhatsApp and Telegram, prompting a formal complaint to the Cyber Crime Police Station, Sector 17.
According to the complaint filed by Govind Singh, the fraud began in November 2024 when he received messages from multiple mobile numbers offering part-time online work. He was initially assigned simple tasks such as posting reviews, for which he was paid small amounts to gain his trust.
After completing a few tasks and receiving ₹300 as payment, Singh was added to a Telegram group titled “VVIP Webbull,” where he was persuaded to invest money with promises of quick returns within minutes.
The complainant alleged that he subsequently transferred money in multiple transactions to different bank accounts across the country, including Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, RBL Bank, Punjab National Bank, and others.
The total amount transferred over a span of nearly two months stood at ₹7,44,824.He further stated that after making the payments, the accused created a login account for him on a website.
However, when he attempted to withdraw the funds, he was told that his account had been frozen and was asked to deposit an additional ₹2.5 lakh to unfreeze it. Despite making further payments, the fraudsters continued to demand more money on various pretexts, including low credit score.
Eventually, all communication was cut off, Telegram groups were deleted, and the mobile numbers became unreachable.A case has been registered at cyber crime police station.
