Mumbai: Four held for cheating 58-year-old Chembur resident of more than Rs 4 lakh in part-time job scam

Representative image. Pic/Istock

The Mumbai police have arrested four persons from Rajasthan for allegedly duping a woman of more than Rs 4.32 lakh by promising her a part-time job and extra income, an official said on Friday.

According to the police officials, the mastermind of the job racket is a 17-year-old boy who was operating it from Rajasthan.

The police held the accused from Rajasthan and froze Rs 97 lakh deposited in 24 bank accounts used by them to dupe several other people.

The fraud came to light when a 58-year-old Chembur resident approached the Chunabhatti police station claiming that she had lost more than Rs 4 lakh to cyber fraudsters, he said.

The complainant had received a WhatsApp message last month from a company, which was offering a part-time job, and asked her to join the firm's Telegram group if she was interested, he said. She was given a task to like a video. On completion of the first task, she received Rs 150 followed by Rs 1,300 and Rs 7,500. Later, she was given a task and was asked to give Rs 87,000 in three installments. The accused then lured her to invest Rs 4.32 lakh. However, she realised she was duped when she did not receive any money in return, the official said.

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The woman rushed to Chunabhatti police station and registered an offence under IPC section 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), and relevant sections of IT Act. DCP (Zone 6) Hemraj Singh Rajput directed Senior Inspector Anil Desai to form a dedicated team to probe the matter.

The cops found a bank account to which the money was deposited and found it was opened in the name of Shivshankad Paswan. The money was transferred to many accounts opened in the name of companies.

During the probe, cops came across more than 70 mobile numbers. Their analysis led to close friends of the suspect. Finally, cops received a tip-off from one of the friends that, the mastermind is arriving at Mira-Bhaynder.

Cops raided a house and apprehended the 17-year-old suspect along with three of his associates. The cops recovered 43 ATM cards, 25 cheque books, 32 loose sim cards, and 22 mobile handsets.

The accused have been identified as Piyush Soni (35), Arjun Soni (29), Rajkumar Soni (32).

The accused were arrested and produced before the court. They have been remanded in police custody till April 26, while the minor was sent to the Children Home, Dongri by the Juvenile Justice Board till May 3.

"The accused have done similar offences and were booked by Matunga, Pant Nagar, and Cybrr police station. The 24 bank accounts used by them have been frozen, Rs 97 lakh have been found in these accounts" told DCP (Zone 6) Hemraj Singh Rajput. "We suspect they have cheated many more persons with the same modus" he added.

The investigation of the offence was done by inspector Raju Thubal, API Sachin Sarde, Pradeep Patil, Bharat Jadhav. Kishor Kumar Zoting. PSI Hemant Mirje and constable Vijay Ghadge.