Delhi man loses Rs 9.32 lakh in a scam for WFH job via Instagram

A man from Delhi lost Rs 9.32 lakh to cyber criminals. He registered for a work-from-home job which promised him 30 percent returns on the amount invested, however, he ended up losing huge amount after following the same.

According to Delhi Police, Harin Bansal, a resident of Pitampura, Delhi, came across a post ‘Earning huge money daily working from home’ on Instagram while scrolling. Bansal clicked the link to know more about it. As soon as he clicked the link, it directed him to a WhatsApp number of a person. That person asked Bansal to register on a website through a given link to proceed with the registration process.

“He had to complete the tasks given to him on the website and that was his job,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Harendra Singh told Indian Express.

The accused told the victim that he will get a commission along with the original amount after completing the tasks given to him, he added.

“The victim initially deposited a small amount and was able to withdraw the money along with the commission earned in his bank account but later when the money increased, he was not able to withdraw it and ended up depositing more money into the bank account on the pretext of government tax,” the DCP told the publication.

Bansal had deposited about Rs 9.32 lakh by then and was unable to withdraw the money. Later he approached the police. The cyber police lodged a case of cheating and arrested two people, Ankit Rathi (30) and Sudhir Kumar (45), for luring people seeking jobs by posting fake work-from-home online jobs and taking their money in the name of a 30 percent return on the amount. The police said that the investigation is under progress.

“The accused disclosed that they used to lure jobseekers by posting lucrative job advertisements online and extort them on the pretext of paying for various expenses as part of the job,” a police official said.