Techie loses ₹6.67 lakh in part-time job scam

A software engineer in Mumbai was allegedly duped of ?6.67 lakh in a part-time job scam. The victim was promised to be paid ?50 per video for liking YouTube videos and later asked to invest in cryptocurrency for higher returns. The police have registered a case of cheating and personation against unknown persons and are trying to trace the accused with the help of technical details.

Mumbai: A software engineer was allegedly duped to the tune of ₹6.67 lakh by online frauds in a part-time job scam.

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The complainant, Sarthak Karpe, 29, a resident of Bhandup West, has been working with a leading multinational information technology services and consulting company for last two years.

According to the Bhandup police, Karpe was given permission to work from home and he was looking for an additional source of income.

“On May 3, Karpe received a message about a like and earn job. He was promised to be paid ₹50 per video for liking YouTube videos. Later, he was asked to complete pre-paid tasks and invest in crypto currency for higher returns,” a police officer said.

Accordingly, Karpe invested ₹4.75 lakh in various tasks assigned to him, however, he did not receive any money.

When he contacted the frauds, he was told that his credit score was low and that is the reason they were unable to process returns to his bank account. “The frauds then asked him to further invest ₹3 lakh. However, as Karpe suspected something was not right, he did not agree to their demands,” the police officer said.

The accused later told him that after talking to their seniors, they had adjusted his credit score and he would get a refund along with his returns after paying ₹1 lakh.

Hoping to get his money back, the software engineer paid them ₹1 lakh, twice. However, when he did not get the amounts, he realised he was cheated and approached the police.

“We have registered a case of cheating and personation against unknown persons under the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000,” the police said. The police are trying to trace the accused with the help of technical details.