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Cyber criminals in Pune have duped a 34-year-old private sector employee of Rs 28.77 lakh under the pretext of offering work-from-home tasks involving online hotel reviews. The victim, a resident of Wakad, was lured into the fraudulent scheme through a social media advertisement and ended up losing her savings over a span of nearly three weeks. The Wakad police have registered a case based on her formal complaint and initiated an inquiry into the fraudulent transactions, recipient accounts, and the individuals operating the network.
Initial Payouts Used to Establish Credibility
The victim came into contact with the fraudsters on September 13 after responding to an online advertisement promising income for rating and reviewing hotels. Upon completing her first assignment, she received Rs 200 directly into her bank account. Soon after, the operators persuaded her to undertake prepaid assignments, claiming that returns would increase proportionally with higher financial investments.
To reinforce confidence in the process, the fraudsters initially returned both the capital and the promised profits. The woman transferred Rs 800 and received Rs 1,040 in return, followed by a transfer of Rs 1,000 for which she was paid Rs 1,350. Convinced of the legitimacy of the operation, she proceeded to transfer additional sums of Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,900. When she subsequently deposited Rs 7,000 against a promised payout of Rs 9,100, the funds failed to arrive. The handlers cited procedural issues and demanded further deposits under the pretext of clearing previous dues and completing mandatory tasks.
Multiple Transfers Led to Total Loss of Rs 28.77 Lakh
Hoping to recover her locked capital, the complainant complied with the instructions and continued sending money between September 13 and October 2. During this period, she deposited Rs 10 lakh in cash through cash deposit machines and transferred another Rs 18.77 lakh through various digital banking channels. When neither the principal amount nor the promised returns were released despite repeated commitments, she realized that she had been trapped in a coordinated financial fraud.
The woman approached the Wakad police station on Saturday to report the matter. Investigators are currently tracing the beneficiaries of the digital transfers, the specific bank accounts used to park the funds, and the persons who withdrew the money deposited through cash deposit machines. Authorities have not yet made any arrests, and efforts are ongoing to identify the persons who communicated with the complainant.
Mechanics of Recurring Work-From-Home Task Frauds
Police officials noted that this incident closely reflects the standard operational pattern seen in task-based cyber fraud across the country. Operators typically circulate social media advertisements offering flexible earnings for routine online actions such as liking videos, rating products, or reviewing hotels. The early stages feature small payouts to earn the victim’s trust before shifting them toward high-value prepaid tasks or purported premium tiers.
Once the invested amounts reach substantial figures, the fraudsters suspend all payouts and introduce spurious charges, claiming that fresh deposits are required to unfreeze accounts or rectify transaction errors. The investigation into the Wakad incident aims to establish whether the crime was executed by local operators or forms part of an inter-state cybercrime syndicate operating across multiple digital platforms.
