Part-time job scam: Two frauds from Surat held for cheating football coach of ₹10L

Two arrested from Surat for cheating football coach of ₹10 lakh by promising part-time job, then asking for investment in tasks for more money.

MUMBAI: Two persons from Surat were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly cheating a football coach to the tune of ₹10 lakh. The accused have been identified as Atul Rameshbhai Walchur and Jayesh Arrisbhai Prajapati who have several other online fraud cases registered against them. The accused were arrested earlier by the police in similar crimes where they used aliases. They were remanded in police custody by the magistrate court on Thursday.

HT Image

According to the Malad police, the 28-year-old complainant is a football coach and lives in Malad with his family. On August 16, 2023, he received a message from a woman named Neha. She gained his trust by offering him a part-time job at her company, telling him that there was an opportunity to earn good money by working from home.

After the complainant expressed interest in the part-time work offer, the woman contacted him and asked him to subscribe to her YouTube channel and send her a screenshot of the same. The complainant was then told to join a Telegram channel for which a link was sent by the woman.

He was given tasks to complete and was promised commission for doing so, but after completing all the tasks given in the Telegram channel, the woman asked him to invest money in the tasks completing the job, luring him with the opportunity to earn more money out of the profit. Trusting her, he had transferred ₹9.87 lakh to the woman between August 16 and August 21, 2023.

He got a commission on the initial tasks, but later the commission stopped. He did not get any response when he asked about his payout, and he realised that he was cheated. He then rushed to the Malad police station where an FIR was registered against the woman, known only by her first name Neha and her other colleagues, under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

As soon as the case was registered, the police recovered information of the bank account where the complainant had deposited the money. The name of Atul Balchur was revealed in that bank account. Upon getting information that Atul was tracked to Surat. The police found 39 ATM cards, chequebooks and some Aadhaar cards from him. Jayesh Prajapati was taken into custody by the Surat police after Balchur’s interrogation. The investigation of the duo revealed that the football coach’s hard-earned money was deposited in the bank account opened by them.

Atul used to give money to needy people and ask them to open bank accounts. He then gave this bank account information to online frauds for commission. “The two have been arrested. We are now trying to trace their accomplices,” said a police officer from Malad police station.