Ahmedabad : A 24-year-old BCA student has alleged that he was duped of Rs 9.6 lakh in an online task scam after fraudsters lured him into completing Amazon product-ranking assignments through WhatsApp and Telegram groups. A complaint was registered with the Cybercrime police on Sunday.
The student was reportedly added to a WhatsApp group without his consent on Oct 8. He first paid Rs 1,024 and was subsequently directed to online portals and Telegram groups where he was repeatedly asked to deposit money to unlock higher-value assignments. In one instance, he paid Rs 5,800 to complete a task. The student managed to withdraw Rs 2,000 during the initial stages, which reinforced his confidence in the scheme. His suspicions were raised on Oct 21 when he received an email asking him to pay another Rs 52,000 to recover his funds.
The following day, the student was introduced to prepaid tasks and asked to transfer money through QR codes. The group promised earnings in exchange for completing online tasks. Seeking additional income, he followed instructions to share screenshots of Amazon product listings. However, subsequent withdrawal requests were met with fresh demands for money.