Man cheated of Rs 42 lakh on pretext of part-time job of ‘liking YouTube videos’

Unknown persons allegedly defrauded a private company employee of Rs 42 lakh in Gurgaon, police said Monday, adding that he was urged to work part-time “by liking YouTube videos.”

According to authorities, the accused sent a message to the victim on March 25 advising her of a part-time employment and was later asked to switch to another social networking platform.

The victim, Manoj Kumar, a Gurgaon resident, claimed in the complaint: “I got trapped in an online payment on March 25 and 26. On March 24, I received a message… about a part-time job for liking YouTube videos and completing prepaid tasks of cryptocurrency. He redirected me to connect with their receptionist on the (another) app for all payments, where she trapped me for making total payments of Rs 42,31,600 via a UPI from my wife’s account and other accounts on March 25 and 26. I was also asked to virtually up/down the stock price on a cryptocurrency website.”

The investigating officer in the case said, “The accused kept sending money in thousands to the victim to keep up the illusion that he was working for them. The victim was made to spend lakhs as part of an investment and he transferred around Rs 42 lakh from his and his wife’s accounts.”

The officer added that they are trying to trace the accused through the UPI IDs and transaction details. An officer at the cybercrime division said that the victim lost Rs 20 lakh on the first day and Rs 22 lakh on the second day in a series of transactions. “He was made to believe that he was accruing a profit of his investment amounting to Rs 69 lakh, but when the accused asked for more money, the victim got suspicious and approached police,” he added.