VP of IT firm tries to supplement income with ‘part-time job’, loses ₹3.35L
Mumbai: In order to earn side income, a 30-year-old vice president of a private firm, who is also a partner in a restaurant, fell into the trap of a part-time job racket and lost ₹3
Mumbai: In order to earn side income, a 30-year-old vice president of a private firm, who is also a partner in a restaurant, fell into the trap of a part-time job racket and lost ₹3.35 lakh.
According to the Oshiwara police, who have initiated an investigation into the case, the victim, Sadaf Khan, is a VP with an IT services firm and is a partner at the Sigdi Restaurant in Andheri. Khan, in her complaint, said that on Monday, she was at the restaurant when she received a message from a person who claimed to be a Human Resources executive with Leo Burnett, a leading media firm. The person offered Khan a part-time job, saying that it would not affect her current job in any way.
“The victim expressed interest and the accused said that they had over 1000 brands as their clients, and all she had to do was to add positive ratings for these brands on Google Maps. The victim added a rating for one brand and was immediately paid ₹150. Next, the accused asked her to join a Telegram group for ‘paid tasks’, where she was offered an incentive for every deposit that she made,” said an officer with the Oshiwara police station.
The officer added that Khan made an initial ‘investment’ of ₹2,000 and was paid ₹2,800 immediately, which convinced her that she was dealing with a genuine party. From then on, the accused kept telling her to deposit increasing amounts with the promise of even higher returns, and the victim kept complying.
“The amounts began in four figures, moved on to five figures and soon reached six figures. At every step, the victim was shown increased profits on the web page and was told that she could withdraw her money at any moment, but would get higher returns if she invested more. From 3pm on Monday to 10pm on Tuesday, the victim had ‘invested’ a total of ₹3.35 lakh,” the officer said.
When Khan expressed her wish to withdraw her money, the accused allegedly told her that she had a ‘low credit score’ and would need to invest an additional ₹3 lakh to be able to make the withdrawal. Smelling a rat, Khan cut off all communication with the accused and contacted her friend, who advised her to go to the police.
Subsequently, Khan approached the police on Wednesday and an FIR of cheating and impersonation under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, was registered against unidentified persons, officers said.
