A 43-year-old doctor from Virar lost more than Rs 1 crore as a result of an online movie rating scam. He took out three loans to pay the fraudsters, who also demanded Rs. 8 lakh in ‘income tax’ and threatened him with a tax raid.
According to The Times of India, the doctor a resident of Gokul Township in Virar (West)received a message via the Telegram app about how to earn money by rating movies online. ‘Woman’ Hafiza@094 sent the message. He opened an account and provided the bank details as instructed by the ‘woman’. He received 28 movie tickets through email for a movie that he had to review. The doctor rated the movie five stars and received a reward of Rs. 830 in his bank account.
The Doctor’s Costly Pursuit: Depositing Rs 1.09 Crore in Hopes of Commission Recovery
The Telegram user then enticingly requested that the doctor send Rs 9,900 to an unknown bank account to be eligible for a higher commission. Afterward, his online ticket rating account showed that he had earned an astounding Rs 31 lakh in commission profits, but when he wanted to withdraw the said “commission,” the fraudsters asked that he deposit a fee equal to Rs 15 lakh. As the cycle went on, the “commission” value eventually climbed to Rs 1.96 crore in just a few days.
Per Arnala Police, the doctor deposited a total of Rs 1.09 crore in the hope of recovering his commission.
This week’s earlier Indian Express report detailed how “courier scam” or “parcel scam” is preying on students. Although “courier fraud” or “courier scam” have been around for a while, they are now growing more common. The latest victim of the courier scam, a student from Bengaluru, lost Rs 1.34 lakh. The accused of the courier scam pose to be police officers and CBI officers and prey on young people by telling them that a courier or parcel containing illegal goods has been sent in their name and warning them of consequences if they do not pay up.
Recall how last week Nithin Kamath, a co-founder of the retail brokerage platform Zerodha, warned the public of a “new scam in the name of FedEx, Blue Dart, and other courier companies”? The 43-year-old entrepreneur said that scammers were pretending to be officials of the CBI and crime branch to deceive individuals into believing fabricated claims. In a Twitter thread, Kamath described the event with a person posing as a FedEx employee.
There's a new scam in the name of FedEx, Blue Dart, and other courier companies that you need to be aware of 👇
A colleague got a call from a person claiming to be from FedEx saying that a parcel had been confiscated by the police because drugs were found in it. 1/4
— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) June 23, 2023
Such scams have become more common, especially on social media. Knowing when someone might be trying to take advantage of you is vital, especially if they are offering something that seems too good to be true. Always do your research and avoid responding random messages or calls offering work or money for simple tasks.
