‘Part-time job’ con: 65 cases in four months; three people lose ₹3 crore

Frauds are using the promise of a "part-time job" or "work from home" to extract money from unsuspecting victims, with many falling for the trick of liking YouTube videos for small rewards before being asked to invest in products or bitcoins. Data from Mumbai's cyber police shows that 65 people were defrauded in this way in the first four months of the year, with 103 such cases reported for the same period last year. People aged between 25 and 55 are particularly targeted, with many looking for part-time work or work from home jobs due to the pandemic.

For many working professionals, a chance to make a few extra bucks, just by liking YouTube videos, would in normal circumstances appear tempting. And if the offer comes in the name of a multinational advertising or marketing company, it sounds credible and then, it becomes difficult to resist it.

HT Image

This is precisely what they are counting on.

‘Part-time job’ or ‘work from home’ con has been the latest trick frauds have employed to extract money from 65 people in the first four months of the year, data with the Mumbai cyber police shows. In three cases, the amount taken from each victim is around ₹1 crore, while it is more than ₹10 lakh each in 27 cases. Last year, 103 such cases were reported in the corresponding period.

The modus operandi, according to police officers, is to first convince the victim to like videos on YouTube and earn smaller amounts ranging from ₹100 to ₹2,000 in rewards.

“The frauds do pay their victim for a while. After they have won his/her trust, they ask them to upgrade for better tasks through investments where the reward amounts are bigger,” Sanjay Shintre, superintendent of Maharashtra Cyber, said.

After the victim has fallen in the trap, the next step is to ask them to download an application or use a cloned website which is not available on the play store and must be downloaded using a link sent by the frauds, officers said. The app is designed in such a way that if a victim has invested ₹1 lakh in the fraud products or bitcoins, it shows ₹1.30 lakh or ₹1.50 lakh has been credited in his or her virtual account. But the victim hardly knows that they can neither access the account nor withdraw the money from it.

“Usually, the victim is targeted for an amount between ₹2 lakh and ₹5 lakh. Thereafter, when the victim seeks to withdraw the money, the frauds try to convince them to invest more under one pretext or the other and it goes on till the victim realises that he or she has been cheated,” Shintre said.

Balsingh Rajput, DCP, Mumbai Cyber, said these gangs are manned by professional and well-educated members who work in a very organised manner.

“One group arranges SIM cards while others get bank accounts opened in the names of fictitious people or using documents of completely unconnected people. Some obtain debit cards and cheque books connected with these accounts and others send bulk messages to random mobile numbers and upload advertisements on social media to trap victims. Some others make and manage the Telegram groups and identify videos and other material to be shared with the victims,” Rajput said.

People in the 25-55 age bracket are their primary targets and most of the victims are working professionals, looking to make extra money in their spare time, he said. “After the pandemic, the scenario has changed. Several people are still jobless, and many are searching for part-time work or work from home jobs.”

“The victim believes the fake application keeps on putting money in their virtual account. When they want to withdraw the money, they are asked to complete the tasks assigned to them by investing more money and if they do, they are asked to pay more towards TDS, GST, professional charges, withdrawal charges etc.,” Rajput added.

Several of these aspects came to light when the Chunabhatti police on April 21 busted a gang operating from Alwar in Rajasthan and arrested four people, including a minor.

“We seized 30 phones and 30 SIM cards and froze 24 bank accounts with around ₹97 lakh deposited in them. Pant Nagar, Matunga and cyber police stations have already sought custody of the accused - Piyus Soni, Rajkumar Soni and Arjun Soni,” Anil Desai, senior police inspector at Chunabhatti police station, said.

Shintre said most of these gangs operate from Jamtara in Jharkhand, Alwar and some other districts in Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Nerul and Aurangabad in Maharashtra.