Online Scam Alert: Panvel Woman Loses Rs 9.71 lakh in Hotel Rating Cyber Fraud

A 25-year-old resident of Airoli became the target of cyber fraudsters, losing Rs 9.18 lakh in a restaurant rating fraud. Promised substantial returns for completing tasks, the victim initially received a WhatsApp message offering part-time jobs in restaurant rating, with earnings ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per day.

After diligently completing restaurant rating tasks and receiving nominal payments, she was enticed to join a Telegram channel for Bitcoin Trading Merchant Tasks, promising even greater earnings. However, participation required an initial investment.

Confident from her previous earnings, the victim proceeded with the new task, investing money and initially seeing profits. However, upon requesting her earnings, she was met with demands for various charges.

Between March 14, 2024, and March 19, 2024, a total of 18 transactions were made to transfer money to accounts provided by the fraudsters for supposed earnings. Despite her efforts, she never received any returns. Realizing she had been deceived, she sought assistance from the police. The Rabale police registered a case of cheating under Section 66D of the IT Act and launched an investigation.

In a similar scam, a 34-year-old resident of Ulwe lost Rs 19.43 lakhs to cyber fraudsters. Contacted via Telegram channel an id @Ananysri96, he was lured into prepaid hotel booking tasks with promises of substantial earnings. Initially receiving payments for task completion, he was later coerced into depositing money to undertake new tasks. Gradually, under the guise of various charges, he transferred a total of Rs 19.43 lakh. To finance these transactions, the victim had to resort to taking out a loan. However, he never received his earnings or investments back. Subsequently, he filed a report with the police, leading to a case being registered at Nhava Sheva police under Section 66 D of the IT Act.