YouTube ‘likes' fraud: This man lost Rs. 40 lakh in online jobs scam

In a shocking zturn of events, a man from Moraiya, Ahmedabad fell victim to an online scam and lost a whopping Rs. 40 lakh. This was through a YouTube 'likes' scam. Scammers have been using the work-from-home scam to cheat people, and many have already lost a lot of money.

Devang Chauhan, a 3D designer, lost ₹40 lakh after being tricked by a fake job offer that promised easy money. Chauhan received a message on Whatsapp from an unknown number on April 21. He called the number to find out more and was offered a job of 'liking' and promoting YouTube videos. The person promised to pay him good money for this.

Chauhan received an initial payment of ₹150 in his account and was added to a Telegram group with other people who were also making money. Before starting the task, he had to pay a prepaid fee of ₹1,500. However, he was reimbursed the fee along with an additional ₹400 after completing the first task. In total, he received ₹1,900, which covered the fee and some extra earnings.

After this, Chauhan paid ₹2,050 for the next task but didn't receive any money in return. He was then offered bigger tasks by different people who contacted him, and he believed it was a legitimate opportunity. He even joined other Telegram groups for more tasks. He ended up paying around ₹30 lakh to get more tasks, but never received any money for the jobs done.

When Chauhan tried to get the money back, the scammers blocked him. They claimed that he had given a negative review and used it as an excuse to not pay him. They even forced him to pay ₹11 lakh in taxes to release his payment!

Realising he had been scammed, Chauhan filed a complaint with the police. The case is now under investigation.

The lesson here is that every person who goes online must pay more attention to what is happening. Whenever someone, especially a stranger, promises something that sounds too good to be true, then probably it is and it should be ignored. It's extremely important to be cautious of any scheme that promises easy money.