Mumbai: Woman loses lakhs in 'like and earn videos' scam; Police register a case

A 29-year-old woman in Malad has been cheated of INR 7 lakh 16 thousand by luring her to 'like a video and earn'. In this case, the Kurar police have registered a case against the unknown person.

The complainant is a female architect who quit her job due to pregnancy. So she was looking for part-time work. On May 2, she received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number and the sender identified herself as Alia. Interested in working online? Just like some YouTube videos and get paid,' Alia's message reads. After the complainant expressed interest in the job, she was asked to like a video. In return she got INR 50. Later, she completed more tasks and received the money, police said.

Further, her mobile number was added to the Telegram group. She was asked to do more work. After completing those tasks, she got more money. He then lured her with huge profits and asked her to invest more. After the woman was ready, she was asked to send INR 1,000 to a number through UPI. In return she got INR 1600. So she decided to invest more money.

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She transferred INR 5,000 through UPI. But this time she did not get her money or commission. When she inquired about this, she was told that she would have to invest INR 30,000 to get INR 5,000. Still she did not get the money, the complaint said. When the woman was asking about money, she was asked to deposit a large amount. So she invested a total of INR 7.16 lakh. Even after that the woman realised that she was cheated as she did not receive the amount.

The woman threatened to file a police complaint against the caller Alia. Her name was then removed from the Telegram group, the official said. After that she told all this to her husband who then lodged a complaint. The police registered a case against the unidentified person under sections 419 (impersonation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 66c (identity theft) and 66d (fraud using computer) of the Information Technology Prevention Act.