In bid to make fast buck through film reviews, Taloja engineer loses ₹6 lakh

It was a click to install a movie-rating app which ultimately led to a Taloja-based engineer lose his lifelong savings - over ₹6 lakh - in just five days

It was a click to install a movie-rating app which ultimately led to a Taloja-based engineer lose his lifelong savings - over ₹6 lakh - in just five days. This is the latest trick employed by cyber gangs, after part-time jobs and lottery, to prey on their victims, the police said.

In bid to make fast buck through film reviews, Taloja engineer loses ₹6 lakh

Vikrant Lahare, 32, works with a private engineering firm in Saki Naka. On December 5, he received a Telegram message from one Rajiv who asked him if he would be interested in making a quick buck by reviewing movies. He expressed his interest in the offer and on Rajiv’s instructions, downloaded Alamo Reviews on his mobile, the complaint said.

“Rajiv would send me a message and ask me to rate several films in the next two days. First, I received a payment of ₹850 and another ₹1,300 a few days later. This convinced me that I was dealing with a genuine party, and I even transferred ₹10,000 to an account specified by Rajiv. The app showed I had earned ₹19,000 but this was not credited to my account,” Lahare said.

Meanwhile, the ‘tasks’ from Rajiv became more complicated, and at one point, his profile on the app showed a ‘negative’ amount of ₹1.22 lakh. When Lahare took this up with Rajiv, the latter asked him to transfer the same amount to his account, claiming it would be refunded along with the commission he had earned so far, the complainant said.

“After Lahare transferred the money, he kept seeing negative transactions of increasing amounts against his name. On Rajiv’s instructions, Lahare kept paying him and by December 10, he had transferred ₹6.37 lakh but had not received a penny in return,” an officer from Saki Naka police station said.

After exhausting all his account balance, when he informed Rajiv about it, the latter gave evasive replies before cutting off all communications with him. Lahare then got the statements from his bank in Saki Naka and approached the police on Wednesday.

A case has been registered under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Information Technology Act.

“Efforts are underway to trace the internet protocol address of the accused. We are also in touch with the bank to see if the transactions could be reversed,” senior police inspector Balvant Deshmukh said.