Man loses Rs 700,000 to online hotel reviews scam

A man fell victim to an online scam, losing over 7 lacs INR (Indian Rupees) due to a social media message that promised substantial returns on investment.

The individual, hailing from Tiruppur, India, received a message on a messaging platform from a woman who offered him a part-time job. The task involved reviewing hotels based on customer feedback in exchange for a commission.

According to details revealed by Police, the victim was directed to a counterfeit website where he was required to review approximately 90 hotels. Upon completing this task, his account displayed a credit of 959 INR. He was then instructed to pay 8,000 INR to continue with the next assignment. After transferring the funds, his account balance increased to 15,917 INR.

Convinced of the legitimacy of the online part-time job, he proceeded to invest additional funds and engage in multiple assignments related to hotel reviews and ratings.

Also read: Online Scam: Woman clicks on job-related link on Instagram, loses 194K

At one point, he invested 7,31,166 INR, and upon finishing his assignments, his account indicated a profit of 10.9 lacs INR. However, he was unable to withdraw the funds. When he sought clarification, the perpetrators informed him that he needed to pay 50% of the total amount before any withdrawal could be made.

Realizing he had been deceived, the victim filed a complaint with the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Following this, an FIR was lodged by the Tiruppur District Cyber Crime Police under the provisions of the BNS and Information Technology Act, 2007.

A specialized team identified the suspect, D. Selvaraj from Dharmapuri, who had opened bank accounts in the names of friends and relatives, facilitating the operations of cyber criminals. He received a commission of ₹25,000 for each account.

Another individual, Goutham Kumar, managed the bank accounts, converting the funds obtained from victims into U.S. dollars via an application and subsequently transferring the illicit money to other accounts.

Both suspects were apprehended by the police and placed in judicial custody.