Mumbai: A 32-year-old Virar resident who had lost Rs 2.53 lakh in an online fraud all the lost money on Thursday. The man had been cheated of the money between Nov and Jan in a scam involving review of products. after clicking on a web link to a post that promised ‘easy earn from home’ opportunity. The police retrieved the funds by freezing accounts to which the complainant had transferred money.
The man went through a phase of “depression” after the financial loss, said inspector Rahul Sonawane of Vile Parle police station.
On Nov 26, 2024, the man received task assignments. He downloaded ‘kpricerunner’ app and joined a Telegram group ‘winnerstrack508′. Initially, he earned a credit of Rs 1,057 into his account for completed tasks, beyond which he was lured to invest Rs 10,000 in a fraud scheme.
As he invested more, he ended up losing Rs 2.53 lakh. “My wife’s support prevented me from self-harm. I realised it was a fraud when I was told to pay taxes to withdraw my investment,” he told TOI.
On Thursday, when he got back the money, he expressed gratitude to officials of Vile Parle police station.
Inspector Sonawane warned of ads using deep fake visuals of notable personalities on social media platforms, directing users to WhatsApp/Telegram groups. —V Narayan