Udupi Woman Loses ₹31 Lakh in Work-From-Home Scam After Initial ₹3,900 Payout

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): A new case of cyber fraud has emerged from Udupi, Karnataka, where scammers siphoned off ₹31 lakh from a woman’s bank account. Police have registered a complaint and begun investigating. The fraud began when the woman clicked on a Facebook post on November 29 that promised earnings through work-from-home opportunities. After clicking the post, she received a call from a man claiming to be an HR representative from the NSE corporate office.

The man asked her to continue the conversation on WhatsApp, which was later shifted to a Telegram group. She was given a digital form and told she could earn good money by completing simple online tasks. To gain her trust, the scammers initially returned small amounts. She sent ₹1,000 and ₹2,000 via UPI QR codes, and in return received ₹3,900 — making her believe the work was genuine.

Soon, she was lured with promises of high profits if she invested larger amounts. Believing the claims, the woman transferred a total of ₹31 lakh to several different bank accounts. Once they received the money, the fraudsters switched off all their phone numbers and stopped responding. When repeated attempts to contact them failed, the woman realized she had been scammed and filed a police complaint. Authorities have also warned people to stay alert against such “task-based scams.”