KOCHI: A 24-year-old woman, a native of Kothamangalam, was duped of Rs 2.1 lakh by cyber fraudsters after they made her invest in a fake virtual website. The fraudsters made her invest the money after convincing her that a huge amount had been credited to the virtual account as a commission for completing a purchase task on their website.
As per the complaint registered with the Cyber Police, the fraud started with the woman receiving a WhatsApp message along with a registration link which offered a ‘job offer’ to earn Rs 4,000-Rs 12,000 in a day. Since the message made her believe that it’s for Amazon and Flipkart”, she completed the registration and agreed to complete the online task.
“I found out this after seeing an ad on Instagram.”When I clicked on the link, it opened a WhatsApp message box. Immediately, I got a WhatsApp message from the number 8179842390 seeking to register on a web platform,” said the victim.
When she finished the first step, the fraudsters provided a user name and ID to purchase the virtual products. “I was able to receive nearly Rs 190 as commission. They then delegated the task of purchasing additional products. When I spent nearly Rs 50,000, I was able to see the commission amount that they showed. They were not ready to transfer the amount to my bank account. Instead, they asked me to send nearly Rs 1.5 lakh to release the money. Since I didn’t have any other option, I deposited Rs 1.5 lakh into the account. It was only then that I realised they were con artists,” the victim explained.
The fraudsters used a Telegram account to chat with people. “The money that my father sent for the construction of our house was used for this. The remaining amount was collected from my friends. I am really worried as I need to return this money to my father,” the victim, who is a research student, told TNIE.
Meanwhile, the number of such complaints is increasing day by day. “People still are not bothered about cyber fraudsters. If they spend a few minutes researching it, they will be able to understand the fraudulent activity behind it. On average, we get nearly 50 complaints a month,” said the officer.