Fraud: A Panchsheel Hynish Society resident in Greater Noida became the victim of a WhatsApp message trap, losing more than Rs 13 lakh as a result. She got a message offering her the chance to earn money while working from home by watching, liking, and subscribing to YouTube videos. Kartika became intrigued by the task’s seeming simplicity and communicated with the scammers via a Telegram handle, where they assured her of daily returns between Rs 50 and Rs 5,000.
In her complaint, Kartika, a Panchsheel Hynish Society resident in Greater Noida West, claimed that scammers who had remote access to her computer also built a fake website.
Youtube Fraud
After she “liked and subscribed” to three video links provided to her on the first day of work, April 6, the cybercriminals credited her account with Rs 150, and they added another Rs 150 after she subscribed to the following three videos.
Kartika continued to contribute Rs 5000, Rs 30,000, and Rs 90,000 in turns as she completed the three essential tasks that the cybercriminals assigned her. “I did not get my money back. They said that the third task, that I did, was wrong. Then they gave me a new task of two transactions, where I sent them Rs, 2,18,400 and Rs 3,81,200. After every transaction, they said that the next transaction will be the last transaction. I ran short of funds and was very scared at this point,” the woman said in her complaint.
Kartika and her husband filed for personal loans in order to keep financing the transactions, which led to them accruing more debt. In order to obtain the cash, a threshold of Rs 15 lakh had to be met, the con artists requested, increasing their demand. Even after realising they might be the victims of the scam, Kartika and her husband kept paying out of concern for their financial security.
The con artists once requested an additional tax payment of Rs 5,20,000. The couple made the decision to file a police report after finally realising they had been conned.
The Information Technology (Amendments) Act, 2008’s section 66D and the act of cheating against unidentified persons have both been filed by the police.
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