Maha: Man loses Rs 37 lakh in cyber fraud, four booked

Police have registered a case against four unidentified fraudsters for allegedly cheating a man from Thane district of Maharashtra of more than Rs 37 lakh on the promise of an online job, an official said on Friday. The victim is from Padle village in the district, he said.

”The victim was employed till April 2023. After losing his job, he started looking for another one. He posted his profile on a job portal. He immediately received a message about an online job vacancy in which his task was to like the videos of celebrities,” an official of Daighar police station said. For each like, he was promised a certain amount. In the test session, he received some money as promised. After that he was lured into investing in cryptocurrency, he added.

The victim invested Rs 37,03,760, but failed to get any return on it. When he realised that he had been duped, he approached the police and lodged a complaint in which he named four persons. A case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 419, 420 (both related to cheating), 34 (common intention) and under the Information Technology Act, police said, adding that investigation into the case is on.