Maharashtra: Seven jobseekers lose nearly Rs 19 lakh in online fraud

Seven jobseekers were allegedly cheated of nearly Rs 19 lakh by an unidentified person on the pretext of providing them part-time employment in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said.

An offence under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act was registered on Sunday based on a complaint lodged by one of the victims who lost Rs 2.82 lakh to fraudsters, an official from Manpada police station in Dombivili town said, PTI reported.

According to the complainant, she had received a message from an unknown number on an app about the availability of part-time jobs last month, he said. The victim was asked to carry out some activities on the app and on YouTube, after which some money was credited to her account.

 However, after carrying out more such activities, she found that Rs 2.82 lakh had been siphoned off from her account, the official said. On realising that she had been cheated, the woman approached the police and found that six others had been duped in the same manner, he said.