Navi Mumbai man loses Rs 10.13 lakh in online 'task' fraud; 4 booked

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A 37-year-old Navi Mumbai man has allegedly lost Rs 10.13 lakh after being lured with the promise of high returns for some online tasks, police said on Sunday, reported news agency PTI.

The cyber police station in Navi Mumbai has registered a case against four persons in this connection, they said, reported PTI.

The accused contacted the victim, a resident of Old Panvel area, between January 16 and 27 and offered him to undertake some online prepaid tasks.

They forwarded the Navi Mumbai man certain links, assigned the tasks and promised lucrative returns. Subsequently, the victim made payments totalling Rs 10,13,005 into the bank accounts and through UPI IDs as instructed, an official from cyber police station said, reported PTI.

However, after completing the tasks, the Navi Mumbai man neither received the promised returns nor his money was refunded. When he asked the accused for payment, they gave evasive responses, reported PTI.

The victim then filed a police complaint, based on which a case was on Wednesday registered against four persons under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, the official said.

In another case, police have registered a case against three persons for allegedly cheating a 50-year-old woman from Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra of Rs 18 lakh by promising jobs to her son and son-in-law in a state-owned company, an official said on Sunday, reported PTI.

The victim had got to know about the accused through one of her acquaintances.

To gain the confidence of the woman and her kin, one of the accused showed them an ID card purportedly belonging to the company and claimed he worked there, the official from Rabale police station said, reported PTI.

The accused also presented fabricated appointment letters to the victims, the police said.

The three accused allegedly took Rs 20 lakh from the woman, a resident of Airoli area, since September 2021, reported PTI.

But when the promised jobs did not materialise, the accused returned Rs 2 lakh to her and later gave evasive replies regarding the remaining amount, the official said, reported PTI.

Following a complaint by the woman, the police on Saturday registered a case against the three accused - two from Pune and one from Ratnagiri - under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 170 (impersonating a public servant), 506 (criminal intimidation) and (common intention), he said.

(With inputs from PTI)