Gurugram: Man involved in online task-based scam held

Gurugram, April 14 (IANS) A man involved in a task-based scam on Telegram has been arrested in Gurugram, an official said on Monday.

The official identified the accused as Harsh from Rewari district in Haryana.

He said that the scam came to light after a victim filed a complaint at the cybercrime police station in Manesar on April 12.

“Based on the complaint, a case was registered under relevant sections at the cyber crime police station Manesar,” he said.

The official said that the police have also recovered five mobile phones, one laptop, 47 SIM cards, 11 cheque books and 47 ATM cards from the possession of the accused.

“In this scam, after people invest a certain amount, they are presented with more and more difficult-looking tasks that require payment, and are lured with ‘significant’ returns,” he said.

He added that in the present case, the victim had received a message on Telegram offering an enticing work-from-home job and lucrative returns.

“This initial contact led the victim to a Telegram channel, where he was promised payments in exchange for reviewing items on Google. To gain his trust, the fraudsters made small payments for initial tasks. Soon after, they introduced the ‘prepaid task’ system, offering significant returns on investments,” he said.

He said that, however, when the victim tried to withdraw his funds, he was blocked from accessing his account.

“The fraudsters cited ‘server issues’, but the victim realised that he was scammed and reported the incident to the cyber cell,” he said.

The official added that following an investigation, the police team arrested the accused from Vatika India Next, Sector-82, Gurugram.

“Police have since frozen multiple bank accounts linked to the scam and are investigating further,” the official said.

--IANS

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