Woman falls prey to ‘YouTube likes’ fraud in Noida, loses Rs 13 lakh

NOIDA: A 42-year-old woman was allegedly cheated of Rs 13.3 lakh by fraudsters who promised her easy earnings by simply liking YouTube videos.
The woman, a Gulshan Vivante resident, submitted a complaint at the cybercrime police station on Tuesday.
“On April 9, I received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number, asking me to like a few videos on YouTube and they would pay me Rs 50 per like. On the first day, I did as instructed and was paid accordingly,” she said in her complaint.
Later, she was added to a Telegram group that already had many members.
“The group coordinators then asked me to pay Rs 25,000, promising higher returns. But after I paid, they held back the amount and asked for Rs 1.17 lakh more. I again paid the amount, but they held it back too. Then, they told me I liked the wrong videos on YouTube, due to which all other group members lost money. For this, I was forced to pay Rs 11.90 lakh on April 11. They took Rs 13.32 lakh from me on different pretexts,” she said.
The miscreants asked for Rs 35 lakh more from the woman.
Based on her complaint, the unknown cybercriminals have been booked under IPC Section 420 (cheating) and sections of the IT Act.