Baker duped of Rs 8.5L in fake online marketing scheme

Ahmedabad: A 37-year-old baker from Vejalpur was allegedly cheated of Rs 8.5 lakh after being lured into a fake online clothing promotion scheme operated through WhatsApp and Telegram. A complaint was filed with the Cybercrime police on Thursday.The complainant runs a home-based cake business. According to her complaint, she received a WhatsApp message on Sep 21, 2025, from a woman identifying herself as "Sree Lakshmi", who claimed to be associated with a Japanese clothing marketing firm.
The woman allegedly sent website and Telegram group links, asking the complainant to join a task-based online sales promotion programme. She was told she would receive commissions and discounts for boosting sales of kurtis. Initially, the complainant deposited Rs 10,000 from her Bank of India account and received around Rs 12,000 in return, which built her confidence.Over the next few days, she was added to multiple Telegram groups where she was provided UPI IDs and bank account details for making further payments. She was assigned daily tasks and shown small returns credited to her account, including Rs 22,630 on one occasion.Believing the scheme to be genuine, the complainant transferred Rs 8,50,338 in multiple transactions to different bank accounts, as instructed. However, after the payments stopped yielding returns, she realized she was duped. She contacted the cybercrime helpline 1930 on Feb 13, and later lodged a formal complaint. Police began an investigation to trace the accused and the beneficiary bank accounts involved in the fraud.