Surat: A 32-year-old accountant lost Rs 2.09 lakh to an online task scam after fraudsters lured him with promises of easy earnings through hotel-rating assignments online and deceived him into transferring funds to them.According to the FIR registered at Dindoli police station on Saturday, the complainant was targeted between Oct 14 and Oct 22.The scammers contacted him through social media and offered him opportunities to earn money by rating hotels and completing online tasks.To gain his trust, they initially assigned simple tasks, including rating hotels listed on Google Maps, and paid him Rs 120. They then enticed him with promises of commissions and attractive returns before persuading him to transfer larger sums “to get higher paying tasks”.The complaint states that the victim was subsequently drawn into various online schemes, including “sharing-training” tasks and a “group-profit” plan. The accused instructed him to transfer money to multiple bank accounts and UPI IDs under different pretexts.Believing the assurances, the accountant continued making payments. When he sought to withdraw Rs 2.09 lakh, the accused allegedly demanded another Rs 2.20 lakh to enable the next task.Realising he had been cheated, the victim approached police and lodged a complaint.Dindoli police registered an FIR for cheating and other offences under the BNS and the Information Technology Act.
