Man duped on pretext of job interview

A man was duped after an unidentified caller allegedly conned him into installing an application on his mobile on the pretext of setting up a job interview for him.

A man was duped after an unidentified caller allegedly conned him into installing an application on his mobile on the pretext of setting up a job interview for him. The police said the incident took place in September last year and a case was registered on Monday after an investigation.

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According to the police, Rohit Kumar Sahu of Bihar, who had been looking for a job for a few months after completing his studies in engineering, alleged that in the first week of September, he received a phone call from a person claiming to be from a placement agency.

The police said the suspect told Sahu that his resume had been shortlisted for the profile of a production engineer at an automobile firm and that an interview would be set up soon. “The suspect said that for the registration, I shall have to pay ₹249. I was also asked to download an application on my phone. They asked me to send all my mark sheets and documents, and assured me that the interview would be set up,” said Sahu.

He added that he was also sent an online form and was asked to enter his details in it as part of the process.

A police officer privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said that after the victim downloaded the mobile app, ₹20, 678 were deducted from his savings bank account. After the money was withdrawn, the suspect switched off his phone.

“The app gives conmen access to a person’s phone through a remote desktop software tool. The victim is then asked to click on an online link for OTP. The OTP is used to withdraw money from the bank account,” the police officer said.

The police said the suspect was yet to be traced. A case was registered under Section 66 D of the Information Technology Act and Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code at the cybercrime police station on Monday, the police added.