Thane: Tax consultant loses Rs 11 lakh in online task fraud

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A 50-year-old tax consultant from Maharashtra's Thane district lost more than Rs 11 lakh in a 'task fraud' wherein three cyber fraudsters, including two women, duped him under the pretext of providing part-time online jobs, police said, reported news agency PTI.

Based on the complaint lodged by the victim, a resident of Rambaug area of Kalyan, a case was registered at the Mahatma Phule Chowk police station under provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act, they said, reported PTI.

"The accused were identified as Priya Sharma, Devi and Bharat. While Priya posed as a representative of an international advertisement company and called the victim from an overseas number, the other two contacted him through a social messaging application," an official said, reported PTI.

On December 11, the trio offered money for completing certain online tasks of giving positive reviews. Initially, they paid a few hundred rupees to him and later asked him to join some groups on Telegram app. They asked him to pay Rs 11,31,200, assuring him of good returns, he said, reported PTI.

However, when he sought returns from them, they started giving evasive replies. He realised that he has been duped, following which he approached the police and filed the complaint, he said, reported PTI.

In another case, police have registered a case against seven persons, including a couple, for allegedly duping a 39-year-old man working as a driver at Dombivli in Maharashtra's Thane district of Rs 34.78 lakh on false promises, an official said on Saturday, reported PTI.

None of the accused has been arrested yet, he said, reported PTI.

"The accused assured to provide flats to the victim and his sister in a slum rehabilitation scheme of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), and also promised to give a job to his nephew in the railways," an official of Kolsewadi police station in Kalyan said, reported PTI.

The accused, who include a woman and a couple, collected a total of Rs 34,78,818 from the victim between January 2019 and 2021, he said, reported PTI.

"But despite paying the money, the victim neither got the flats nor was his nephew given a job," the police official said, reported PTI.

Based on his complaint, the police filed the first information report (FIR) under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 34 (common intention) against Jaideep Londhe, Shital Salvi, her husband Karan Salvi, Vijay Tupe and others at the Kolsewadi police station on Wednesday, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)