Mumbai: Cyber fraudsters spare no one. A wayside tea vendor, keen to supplement his income, fell prey to a cyber fraud which left him with bigger financial woes. Initially lured by a cyber fraudster to make some extra money, the tea vendor from Khar, Vinay Prajapati (38), unknowingly got into a fraud investment scheme in which he put in Rs 3.13 lakh of his hard-earned money. Having lost quite a huge amount, he had to borrow Rs 4 lakh from friends which he had been struggling to repay. On Saturday, the police nabbed a man from Pune who was part of the gang that had cheated the tea vendor.
The tea seller had initially fallen prey to a job task scam in which he was promised income to give reviews for hotels. Initially, he was lured with small investment amounts and was promised good returns only to give online reviews for hotels. All he had to do was give a rating for a hotel, he has stated in his complaint lodged at Santacruz police station.
He started by putting in Rs 1,000 and was paid Rs 1,300. Gradually, he increased his investment to Rs 2,000 which fetched him Rs 5,000 credited to his bank account. At that point that he got trapped into the sinking sand.
“Next, I invested Rs 8,000 but got back nothing. I was told to invest more… was told the money would get accumulated… was assured of higher returns,” the complaint sayd, adding that the person he was in touch with stopped responding to his calls. By then, he had borrowed from friends to invest. A case was filed Santacruz police station on Oct 19, 2024.
A couple of days ago, the police arrested a 25-year-old from Pune. The accused, Dnyaneshwar Salvi, who works for a gas agency, had allegedly allowed his bank account to be used in which the fraudsters parked the sums that the tea vendor invested with them. The main fraudster, who the police said is from Rajashtan, had kept Rs 7.5 lakh in the said bank account. The man in Pune had passed on Rs 14 lakh parked in his account. For this, he was paid Rs 20,000 as his commission, said the police.
The man arrested from Pune had provided his bank account details to a colleague in Rajasthan, said an officer.
Cyber expert Ritesh Bhatia said: “Fraudsters employ enticing tactics, offering individuals a quick reward of to complete tasks. The initial success serves to build trust…” he said.
DIG (State-cyber) Sanjay Shintre warned that task fraud victims are approached via WhatsApp with job offers.
The case was solved by a police team comprising DCP Dikshit Gedam. The police team included ACP Maruti Pandit, senior inspector Vaibhav Shingare, inspector Jyoti Hibare, Sub-inspectors Deepak Basarkar, Vijay Sardesai among others.