Work-from-home scam: Woman’s Rs 3,900 earning turns into Rs 31 lakh loss

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): A new case of cyber fraud has come to light in Udupi city of Karnataka, in which a total of Rs 31 lakh was defrauded from a woman's bank account. Police have registered a complaint and started investigating the matter. The fraud started when the woman saw a post on Facebook on November 29, in which it was claimed that she could earn money while working from home. The woman clicked on the post, after which she received a call from a person who introduced himself as HR of NSE Corporate Office.

Clicked on the work from home post… First the woman earned Rs 3900, then cyber fraudsters stole Rs 31 lakh from her bank account: The man asked the woman to talk on WhatsApp and then the conversation shifted to a Telegram group. Here the woman was given a digital form to fill and was told that she can earn a good amount by completing simple tasks. Initially, the scammers sent back some money in exchange of small tasks to win the woman's trust. The woman first sent Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 through UPI QR code, in return of which she received Rs 3,900. This made her believe that the work was genuine.

After this, she was lured into becoming rich overnight and was promised huge profits if she invested more money. Believing this, the woman transferred a total of Rs 31 lakh to different bank accounts. As soon as the huge amount was received, the cyber fraudsters switched off all their numbers and the woman did not get any return. When she could not contact them even after many attempts, the woman realized that she had become a victim of fraud. After this, she lodged a complaint with the police. Government agencies also advise to be cautious of such 'task scams'.