Man lost Rs 3.5m for fake job offer received on WhatsApp

In a incident that went viral on the internet, a 28-year-old man lost Rs 3.5 million for a very convincing fake job offer he received on WhatsApp.

The incident happened in the Indian city of Mumbai where a soccer coach fell victim to an online scam, resulting in a loss of INR 9.87 lakh.

The victim, identified as Joel Chetty, aged 28, was contacted via WhatsApp on August 16 by an individual purporting to represent a company that was offering part-time employment opportunities.

The nature of the job involved him subscribing to a YouTube channel, capturing screenshots of the content, and forwarding them to the supposed company.

Agreeing to the arrangement, Chetty was sent a Telegram link by the scammer, who then requested his personal and banking information, which he unsuspectingly provided.

Initially, the victim received a nominal payment of INR 150 upon completing a task. Subsequently, he undertook another online task that yielded INR 2,800 in compensation.

As the scheme unfolded, the scammer coerced Chetty into paying INR 9,000 to establish an account, followed by an additional INR 40,000 supposedly required for a task order.

The scammers persistently demanded money from him, leading to a staggering total of INR 9,87,620 being transferred to them between August 16 and 21. It wasn’t until Chetty confided in his sister about the transactions that he realized he had fallen prey to a fraudulent scheme. Consequently, legal action was taken against three individuals implicated in orchestrating the scam.