Karnataka woman receives WhatsApp message, loses over Rs 8 lakh in work-from-home scam

A woman from Karnataka fell prey to a work-from-home scam and lost over Rs 8 lakh, according to the police.

According to the complaint, Saritha S, who resides in the Sector 43 area in Gurugram, had received a WhatsApp message offering an opportunity to earn money from home.

The message suggested that she could earn Rs 50 per subscription to a YouTube channel.

The sender, who posed as Yusfat, assistant manager of HR at Aidnet global marketing company, promised Saritha a chance to earn a profit by completing tasks.

Saritha subscribed to two channels as per the message and received a call from the receptionist, Laila. Laila then asked Saritha to share her Telegram ID, after which she was added to a Telegram group with 180 members who were all performing various tasks. Lalia had allegedly told Saritha that she would earn profit by completing tasks assigned to her.

However, Saritha did not earn any profit from the tasks and was cheated of Rs 8.20 lakh.

An FIR was lodged against the unknown culprits under sections 419 (cheating by impersonation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the cybercrime division of the Manesar police station on Wednesday.