- Hi do you want to double your investment within month. We can do it. Please update your PAN card number Click here (link).
- Hello, How are you? My name is Radhika. I am an HR from Brainium info tech. Are you free now?
- Hello, want to earn money in free time by watching videos? Click here (link)
Messages like these are being sent through messaging apps like Telegram and WhatsApp to dupe people by offering them jobs, cash for watching videos and high-return investment schemes.
At places policed by the Bidhannagar commissionerate, such as Salt Lake, New Town, Rajarhat, Baguiati, Kestopur and parts of Dum Dum, 25 cases of fraud where victims were sent messages through Telegram or WhatsApp have been reported.
The victims in the 25 cases have been duped out of Rs 4.2 crore, officers said. Of that amount, the police have been able to freeze Rs 3.31 crore.
“Last week alone, the cyber crime police station in Salt Lake recorded five such cases,” said an officer.
The spike in the numbers has prompted the commissionerate to launch an advisory to warn people about such scams.
Charu Sharma, additional deputy commissioner, detective department, Bidhannagar commissionerate, said three persons were arrested in August for their alleged involvement in such frauds.
The three allegedly reached out to the victims through the messaging apps and lured them into their schemes through false promises of jobs, cash or high investment returns.
A person targeted by the gang is first sent a message through WhatsApp or Telegram offering high returns on investment.
“Once the victim is convinced that the offer is genuine, his number is added to a Telegram group and he is even paid small amounts to gain his trust. Then he is asked to deposit money for high returns and he is again paid small amounts. Encouraged, once the victim starts paying larger amounts, the person managing the group says the money cannot be withdrawn as it is invested in cryptocurrency or some schemes,” Sharma said.
In some cases, she said, people are lured with promises of returns as high as 30 or 40 per cent.
“In a recent case, a person lost Rs 1.53 crore. The person, promised an extremely high return, kept investing thinking the investments were being made in cryptocurrency. But in reality no money was invested anywhere,” Sharma said.
In the advisory, the commissionerate has listed the steps one needs to take to avoid falling into such traps.