Techie duped for ₹71L by cyber fraudsters

The victim, Amrapali Chandrashekhar Kulathe, a resident of Kohinnor Korel in Hinjewadi had been contacted by the fraudsters under the guise of completing a task online

PUNE: A 35-year-old woman employed at a multinational IT company fell victim to a cyber fraud scheme, losing ₹71.82 lakh. The incident was reported between September 2 and 15, police officials said.

After completion of the task, when victim was asking for the payment, the accused convinced her to invest the amount earned on the ‘Coin Switch’ platform to earn good returns. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

The victim, Amrapali Chandrashekhar Kulathe, a resident of Kohinnor Korel in Hinjewadi had been contacted by the fraudsters under the guise of completing a task online. Initially, she received a message on her social media account in which a fraudster asked her to write a review of restaurants and hotels against which she would get a good amount of money.

After completion of the task, when she was asking for the payment, the accused convinced her to invest the amount earned on the ‘Coin Switch’ platform to earn good returns.

Trusting them, the victim began engaging with the cybercriminals, who manipulated her into believing the task was real. Over two weeks, she was coerced into making a total of 21 transactions, transferring money to various bank accounts provided by the fraudsters.

Ravindra Mudal, police sub-inspector (PSI) at Hinjewadi Police Station said, “Victim got involved as per instructions given by the cyber fraudster. When she was asking to withdraw money, the accused convinced her and forced her to pump in more money.”

Realising the enormity of the situation and growing suspicious, the victim contacted the police on September 15 when the transactions had reached a cumulative sum of ₹71.82 lakh. Police authorities initiated an investigation into the matter.

A case has been registered at Hinjewadi police station under IPC sections 406 and 420 and investigation is underway.