Mumbai: Man looking for job loses ₹5.5L to film rating scam

Mira-Bhayandar: A 53-year-old man looking for employment was duped of more than ₹5.46 lakh by cyber fraudsters offering attractive commissions for rating movies online.

In his statement to the police, the complainant said he received a scripted message sent by the cyber fraudsters on a popular cross-platform messaging application. The sender claimed that their company rated movies and it was not necessary to watch them before submitting the reviews.

The complainant was first added to a messaging group for tutorials on the process of rating movies. He was then asked to make an initial investment of ₹10,000, complete tasks related to a movie rating, and then get the investment back along with commissions. Later he was told to deposit more money and upgrade his account.

However, despite depositing money into various bank accounts and finishing the tasks assigned to him, he neither got back his investments nor commission. By the time he realised that he was being duped, the complainant had ended up paying ₹5,46,335 within a span of just five days, following which he registered a complaint at the Mira Road police station.

An offence under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act, 2000, has been registered against the unidentified callers and bank account holders. Further investigations are underway.

Published on: Sunday, February 12, 2023, 10:01 PM IST