IT professional from Nagpur duped of ₹42.55 lakh in online 'task fraud'

IT professional from Nagpur duped of ₹42.55 lakh in online 'task fraud'.

The victim registered himself on the website, but could not make any money. He was asked to perform several such tasks since June. (HT_PRINT)

An IT professional from Maharashtra's Nagpur allegedly lost ₹42.55 lakh to an online "task fraud", wherein cyber fraudsters lured him to perform various tasks to make money, police said on Saturday.

The matter came to light earlier this week when the victim approached the Cyber police station with a complaint, following which an offence under section 420 (cheating) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology (IT) Act was registered, an official said.

Praful Ragrao Gondekar (30) received a link for an online part-time job on WhatsApp and he was added to a chat group named “LY online trading D101”, which had 35 members, he said.

Gondekar was informed on chat that the members had profited significantly from the investments they made. The fraudsters encouraged him to register on a website by promising him substantial profits, the official said.

The victim registered himself on the website, but could not make any money. He was asked to perform several such tasks since June, but he lost money each time he failed to complete the work, he said.

Gondekar lost ₹42.55 lakh to fraudsters in two months, the official said, adding that a probe is underway.