Rs 12 lakh is lost by a sales professional in a part-time employment fraud

In the course of two weeks, cybercriminals reportedly conned a senior sales executive out of Rs 12 lakh by dressing as part-timers.

The victim, a 28-year-old Borabanda resident, was allegedly contacted on Telegram on April 7 by a person named Aarvi. She informed the complainant that one of their part-time jobs needed them to complete 25 car-related inquiry questionnaires in a single day. Aarvi allegedly said that the participant would get up to Rs 800–Rs 1,300 in exchange, and that she would assist the victim throughout the process until she received the commission.

Accepting the proposition at face value, the sales representative signed up for a website the con artist recommended and began sending in automobile reviews. She was paid about Rs 1,000 for her work at first. But then she was informed that her trial was over and that, in order to carry out her duties, she would need to pay Rs 10,000.

The victim paid the scammers and continued to do the assignments despite her misgivings since they persuaded her that she could withdraw her investment and get her prizes after completing 75 surveys. The victim continued to contribute after that, and the con artists even urged her to increase her account balance by making more deposits.

As the days went by, she came to understand that her account was caught in a vicious loop of negative balances, and the team requested that she continue making deposits. When she sought to leave the program after spending more than Rs 13.20 lakh, they only reimbursed her Rs 34,000, claiming that she was owed Rs 27.92 lakh.

The Cyberabad Cyber Crime police filed a case under Section 420 of the IPC based on the complaint.