Techie in Hyderabad falls for fake job offer, loses Rs 13 lakh

HYDERABAD: Cyber fraudsters have duped a 57-year-old unemployed software engineer of Rs 13 lakh by promising to provide him a job in the United Kingdom.
According to police, Venkata Murali Manohar, a software engineer from Yousufguda, lost his job after his company shut the shop in 2020. Manohar uploaded his resume on various job portals and recently received a phone call from a fraudster posing as job consultant looking to recruit for a UK-based real estate company, Golden Properties, assistant commissioner of police (ACP) cyber crime, KVM Prasad said.
By offering a job in the sales department of the company with handsome salary, the fraudster convinced Manohar to transfer Rs 13 lakh on various pretexts. “The fraudsters sent a fake job offer letter and made Manohar transfer Rs 13 lakh to various bank accounts for consultancy fee, commission for finding job and visa processing fee,” the ACP said.
As the accused kept asking for more money, Manohar realised that he was duped and lodged a complaint with cyber crime police on Wednesday. “The details of the final transactions were sent to National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and, by contacting the banks, we managed to stop withdrawal of about Rs 3 lakh,” the ACP said. Police registered a case under relevant sections of the IPC and the IT Act.