E-Paper
Ludhiana: Jagraon man loses ₹21 lakh in online job scam, FIR registered
The victim was lured through instagram advertisement, later contacted via WhatsApp and Telegram to complete online tasks
A 46-year-old Jagraon resident who had returned from New Zealand about a year ago was allegedly duped of over ₹21 lakh by fraudsters posing as representatives of an online company offering work-from-home opportunities. Ludhiana rural cyber crime police have registered an FIR against unidentified accused.
Police said the victim, Deepinderpal Singh, came across an Instagram advertisement on February 11 that promised easy earnings from home. After clicking the link, he was asked to contact a WhatsApp number, where a caller introduced himself as a company representative and offered attractive commissions for completing online tasks.
Initially, Singh was asked to rate products and deposit small sums. After receiving returns on the early payments, he believed the scheme was genuine, police said. The accused later shifted him to Telegram, where he was assigned more tasks and asked to deposit larger amounts under the pretext of “recharges”.
Though profits were reflected in his online account, Singh was unable to withdraw the money. When he raised the issue, the fraudsters claimed his account had been deactivated due to a technical error and demanded more payments to restore access. Hoping to recover his funds, Singh continued transferring money over the next few days. In total, he was cheated of ₹21,02,487, according to the complaint.
An FIR under Section 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been registered. Police said efforts are underway to trace the accused and track the financial trail.
