Woman duped of Rs 17.68 lakh with WFH trick in Surat

SURAT: Police booked unidentified persons on Thursday for allegedly cheating a 41-year-old woman of Rs 17.68 lakh. The victim, a homemaker, was lured with lucrative pay for work from home job.
The Dabholi area resident received a message on the Telegram messaging application on April 14 from an unknown number offering money for online reviews of hotels from home. The woman expressed interest in the work.
Based on the details provided, the woman submitted reviews for 28 hotels. She was paid Rs 994 for it. Later the person on the other side asked her to deposit Rs 10,000 for higher payment for her work. The accused was able to convince her into paying more money. The woman ended up paying the accused Rs 17.68 lakh in different instalments.
Meanwhile, the woman continued to get tasks to complete online reviews of hotels and for that, she was paid a commission of Rs 57,000.
Later, she was asked to deposit Rs 22.48 lakh more to upgrade her level and for a better commission. She then suspected it to be a fraud and approached the police.
“The accused used a few names of some top travel review websites to look like a genuine service provider. We are working to trace the accused,” said a police officer.