Mumbai Police arrests 2 from Gujarat involved in ‘task job’ fraud
Mumbai: Mumbai Police has arrested two cyber fraudsters from Gujarat who allegedly duped people by offering easy online jobs or ‘tasks’, an official said here on Friday.
He said the bank accounts used by the accused showed financial transactions worth Rs 60 crore in three months and the police had frozen Rs 1.1 crore in these accounts.
How did the fraud come to light?
The investigation began when a 19-year-old hostel student of Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute here lodged a complaint that he was cheated by unknown fraudsters.
They contacted him through WhatsApp and offered him ‘part-time’ online work or ‘task’ for a good amount of money. The complaint states that it was then added to a Telegram channel.
Later the fraudsters asked them to deposit money in different accounts promising better returns. The student told police that he lost Rs 2.45 lakh this way before he realized it was a scam.
Police detected scammers in Gujarat
The city’s Matunga police traced the culprits to the bank accounts in which the money was deposited and arrested Rupesh Thakkar (33) and Pankaj Bhai Odd (34) from Gujarat’s Gandhinagar a day earlier.
Police also recovered 33 debit/credit cards, 32 check books of various banks, six mobile phones and 28 SIM cards from the accused, who were booked under section 420 (fraud) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act. A case was registered. The officer said further investigation is underway.
