35-yr-old techie duped of ₹30 lakh on pretext of likes' gig

HYDERABAD: A 35-year-old Jalpally resident, who works for an MNC, was duped of ₹30 lakhs on the pretext of being offered an online job for liking and subscribing to YouTube channels.  He filed a complaint with the Rachakonda police, following which its cybercrime wing started an investigation.

The police said that the complainant initially received a WhatsApp message about the job offer and upon replying to it received ₹200. He was then added to a Telegram group, in which members were given tasks, and received ₹3,800 upon completing a few.

As the man continued to complete tasks, he was informed that his earnings had grown exponentially and that his virtual account reflected the same.

When he tried to withdraw the money, he was paid ₹7,000 and asked to pay, various charges, for accessing his account. He then transferred ₹30,03,200 in two days, but failed to gain access. Upon being asked to pay more, he suspected he was cheated and contacted the police.