PUNE: Three software engineers and a computer programming language student became the latest victims of the spate of ongoing online task frauds.
The four victims altogether lost Rs36.11 lakh to the cybercrooks. Two separate cases have been registered with the Warje Malwadi police, while one each has been registered with the Hinjewadi and Chinchwad police.
Senior inspector Krishnadev Kharade of the Chinchwad police said according to the complaint lodged by a 28-year-old IT on May 10, he received a message about earning extra via a part-time job sitting at home.
“He was told that after responding to the message, he would be given tasks to rate hotels online and would be paid for it,” Kharade said.
Initially, the complainant was paid money. “The crooks gained the techie’s confidence and then lured him to invest money in prepaid tasks.
“Between May 10 and May 17, the techie transferred Rs10.95 lakh to the different bank accounts and UPI IDs. When he wanted to withdraw his money, he was told to pay more,” Kharade said.
In another similar cyber fraud case, a 27-year-old Hinjewadi woman, also a software engineer, was asked to follow celebrities on a social media platform. She was lured with a 30% commission on the prepaid tasks and was duped of Rs8.75 lakh.
Assistant inspector C M Borkar of the Hinjewadi police told TOI, “To earn more, the techie transferred Rs8.75 lakh within just three days between May 6 and May 9. We have sought details from her bank.”
A 31-year-old senior software developer from Warje also fell prey to a similar scam on March 29.
“She was first told to transfer Rs200 and was paid Rs450. Two days later, she was given six tasks and Rs1,100 was transferred to her account. After receiving Rs48,00 the crooks closed her account,” an officer from the Warje Malwadi police said.
“The crooks then took Rs1.40 lakh to restart the account. They allowed her to withdraw sRs8,000 and she lost Rs8.72 lakh,” the officer added.
Not just IT employees but even students are victims of the scam. A 23-year-old student was duped of Rs7.69 lakh between May 6 and May 8. “He exhausted his bank balance and had even transferred money through the accounts of his two older brothers,” the officer said.
The four victims altogether lost Rs36.11 lakh to the cybercrooks. Two separate cases have been registered with the Warje Malwadi police, while one each has been registered with the Hinjewadi and Chinchwad police.
Senior inspector Krishnadev Kharade of the Chinchwad police said according to the complaint lodged by a 28-year-old IT on May 10, he received a message about earning extra via a part-time job sitting at home.
“He was told that after responding to the message, he would be given tasks to rate hotels online and would be paid for it,” Kharade said.
Initially, the complainant was paid money. “The crooks gained the techie’s confidence and then lured him to invest money in prepaid tasks.
“Between May 10 and May 17, the techie transferred Rs10.95 lakh to the different bank accounts and UPI IDs. When he wanted to withdraw his money, he was told to pay more,” Kharade said.
In another similar cyber fraud case, a 27-year-old Hinjewadi woman, also a software engineer, was asked to follow celebrities on a social media platform. She was lured with a 30% commission on the prepaid tasks and was duped of Rs8.75 lakh.
Assistant inspector C M Borkar of the Hinjewadi police told TOI, “To earn more, the techie transferred Rs8.75 lakh within just three days between May 6 and May 9. We have sought details from her bank.”
A 31-year-old senior software developer from Warje also fell prey to a similar scam on March 29.
“She was first told to transfer Rs200 and was paid Rs450. Two days later, she was given six tasks and Rs1,100 was transferred to her account. After receiving Rs48,00 the crooks closed her account,” an officer from the Warje Malwadi police said.
“The crooks then took Rs1.40 lakh to restart the account. They allowed her to withdraw sRs8,000 and she lost Rs8.72 lakh,” the officer added.
Not just IT employees but even students are victims of the scam. A 23-year-old student was duped of Rs7.69 lakh between May 6 and May 8. “He exhausted his bank balance and had even transferred money through the accounts of his two older brothers,” the officer said.
