Ranip Graphic Designer Duped of ₹5.75 Lakh in Telegram Fraud Over Online Reviews, Trading

42-year-old graphic designer from Ranip was allegedly duped of Rs 5.75 lakh by cyber fraudsters who approached him with a work-from-home opportunity involving hotel reviews and online trading through Telegram.

The fraud took place between September 3 and 7. The accused initially made small payments to gain the victim’s confidence before allegedly inducing him and his wife to transfer large sums of money.

Fraudsters Lure Victim With Work-From-Home Offer

The victim, Jignesh Rajnikant Makwana, works as a graphic designer at Swaminarayan Temple Aksharpeeth in Shahibaug.

Makwana reportedly received a Telegram message from an account named Vidya Verma offering him an opportunity to earn Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 per day in his free time.

He was initially assigned small tasks involving hotel reviews. After completing them, he received payments ranging from Rs 120 to Rs 700 in his bank account. The payments allegedly helped the fraudsters gain his confidence.

He was later added to a Telegram group named “Google Coin Map Income 220 Group.”

Trading App Used To Induce Larger Transfers

A Telegram user identified as “Shasha” subsequently sent Makwana a link purportedly related to trading and asked him to create an account on an application called Oasis.

Several other Telegram users, identified as Sanjay Verma, Kamal Mishra, Dinesh Sharma and Ajay Srivastava, allegedly instructed Makwana to complete different tasks.

Following their instructions, Makwana and his wife, Mita Makwana, transferred a total of Rs 6.01 lakh from their bank accounts to different accounts.

Fraudsters Demand More Money To Release Funds

The accused allegedly showed Makwana a virtual profit of Rs 3.50 lakh. When he tried to withdraw the amount, they claimed that he had made an error while completing a task.

They then allegedly told him that his account had been frozen and that his credit points were low. The fraudsters subsequently demanded additional money to release the funds.

Realising that he had been cheated, Makwana contacted the 1930 cybercrime helpline and lodged a complaint with the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Police.

Police have begun an investigation into the alleged cyber fraud.