Mumbai Woman, On Maternity Leave, Loses Rs 54 Lakh To Scammers Offering Freelance Work –

Online scams have become common, with many people falling prey to cyber fraudsters’ tempting schemes. The most recent victim is a pregnant woman from Airoli, Navi Mumbai, who became involved in an internet fraud and lost a whopping Rs 54 lakh.

According to PTI, the 37-year-old woman, who was on maternity leave, was seeking methods to make additional money online. During her quest, she came across some people online who made an enticing promise of freelancing employment that required evaluating businesses and restaurants. Reports state that they promised her a large sum of money if she completed only five basic tasks.

The woman appeared to be persuaded by the offer and later began work. During her online work, the scammers offered her instructions and supplied links to rate the hotels, finally convincing her to commit money in the hope of receiving huge returns.

As the woman became more involved in the scheme, she made payments totaling Rs 54,30,000 across multiple accounts. These payments, which were reportedly intended to secure the promised duties, were made between May 7 and May 10, this year.

But when the woman tried to collect her promised payment after finishing the tasks assigned to her, the fraudsters stopped responding to her calls and stopped being responsive. Upon realising she had been defaulted, the victim went to the Navi Mumbai cyber police, who filed a case against four unidentified people on allegations of cheating.

Furthermore, a police official told PTI that the cyber police on May 11 filed a formal complaint under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act, based on the pregnant woman’s complaint.

This is not the first instance of an online scam in which fraudsters lure people with work-from-home jobs. Indeed, there has been an uptick in incidents where people have lost money following a similar pattern.