A resident of Vasant Kunj, southwest Delhi, fell victim to a sophisticated online job scam and lost Rs17.49 lakh to cyber fraudsters posing as recruiters. The scam began on May 23, when the victim was contacted via social media and offered a part-time work-from-home opportunity, involving website reviews for Rs50 each.
After completing a few tasks, the victim was drawn into a scheme where he was asked to perform “prepaid tasks” related to the sale and purchase of bitcoin. He was instructed to submit screenshots as proof. Believing he would earn higher returns, the complainant continued depositing money until he had lost nearly Rs17.5 lakh.
The complaint was officially lodged on May 27 through the NCRP portal. Following this, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered at the Cyber Police Station in southwest Delhi under Sections 318 (cheating), 61 (criminal conspiracy), and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
DCP (southwest) Amit Goel stated that a special team was formed to trace the suspects. CCTV footage from bank branches involved in the transactions helped identify a key suspect—Ankur Mishra (22) from Uttar Pradesh.
Subsequent raids in Lucknow, Agra (Uttar Pradesh), and Bhopal and Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh) led to the arrest of four individuals: Ankur Mishra, Kratarth (21), Vishwash Sharma (32), and Ketan Mishra (18). Ankur hails from UP, while the others are from MP.
Police continue to investigate the money trail and the digital footprints left behind in what appears to be a wider racket targeting remote job seekers online.
