Hyderabad: Writing fake reviews online for money seems to be the new technique being used by cyber-fraudsters to trap gullible people and loot them. The cyber wing of Rachakonda and Cyberabad police commissionerates have registered cases in such frauds and are now cautioning people to avoid such traps and lose money.
Police say fraudsters have been duping people with part-time job offers and this modus operandi is the latest in a long list of techniques employed to dupe people.
Usually, the victims first receive the communication via online messaging platforms such as WhatsApp where they are assured a daily income between Rs 3,000 and Rs 8,000.
Once the victim clicks on the link, they are directed to another messaging platform and asked to write reviews on search engines such as Google, like Facebook pages, and YouTube videos and follow people on various social media platforms, among others.
The fraudsters also pay a joining bonus to lure the victims. Motivated, the victims perform the assigned work and are paid for the initial tasks.
Once they have gained the confidence of the victims, the fraudsters demand money for registration charges, promotions and withdrawal charges.
In one instance, the MD of a chemical manufacturing company from Kapra lost over Rs 2.88 lakh. An engineer working with a government department was also duped of Rs 53 lakh. Police are investigating both cases.
They also advised people to avoid links from unknown numbers and not respond to any communication from such numbers to avoid the trap.
