Woman loses 20L in online ‘tasks’

Vadodara: A sales executive working with a private firm was lost Rs 20 lakh to cyber frauds who lured her by promising attractive income on her investment. Vanita Bhatt, a resident of Waghodia Road, has filed a complaint with the cybercrime police in Gandhinagar and has also written a letter to the Vadodara police commissioner urging action in the case. Bhatt said that she made the initial payment while staying in Ahmedabad and the other dealings happened when she was in Vadodara.In her complaint, Bhatt stated that in May this year, she got a message on her Telegram account from someone who offered her a part time job in Uber Eats. Bhatt was asked to open an account by clicking a link, complete tasks and earn commission.She joined a Telegram book where she was given a task that she completed and earned Rs 971. The next day, the accused asked Bhatt to deposit Rs 11,000 to start a task following which she transferred the money and was paid over Rs 5,000 at the end of the day. The accused kept increasing the amount of deposit and lured Bhatt to invest more if she wanted to earn more commission. In a series of transactions, Bhatt transferred over Rs 20 lakh but she realised that she was being duped when the accused kept asking her to transfer more money if she wants her invested amount back. “She came to me for help. We approached the cybercrime sleuths who intervened in time and Bhatt got back Rs 6 lakh as the bank transaction was reversed. Many such cases are being reported across the state,” said advocate Niraj Jain, who runs a YouTube channel on cyber awareness and helps cybercrime victims. “The Telegram group that I was part of had 22 more members. They too were investing money like I did,” Bhatt told TOI.
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