A 66-year-old man from Navi Mumbai was allegedly cheated to the tune of Rs 17 lakh by cyber fraudsters on the pretext of offering him payment for an online task, police said on Saturday.

An offence in this connection was registered at the Nerul police station on Friday, an official said.

"Four persons contacted the victim on phone on different dates, claiming to be representatives of a prominent e-commerce company. They offered to pay him for the task of posting his reviews on social media for various products," he said.

Believing them, the victim paid a total of Rs 17 lakh in several instalments from April to May 2023, he said.

"The man, however, later realised that he had been cheated as he stopped receiving payments," the official said.

Based on his complaint, a case was registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) and the Information Technology (IT) Act against the unidentified accused.

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