Ahmedabad woman duped of ₹8 lakh in ‘work-from-home’ online scam

An Ahmedabad-based woman has alleged that she was cheated of more than ₹8 lakh after falling prey to a 'work-from-home' scheme advertised on social media, prompting the Cyber Crime Branch to register a case and initiate an investigation.

Santosh Singh, a 60-year-old private tutor residing in the Koteshwar area of the city, came across an advertisement on Instagram on December 10, 2025, offering easy earnings through hotel rating and online gold trading tasks. After clicking on the advertisement, she was contacted via WhatsApp by unknown persons who claimed she could earn money from home by completing simple online assignments.

Singh states in her complaint that she was gradually taken into confidence and asked to download Telegram, where she was added to multiple groups and contacted by different handlers using various usernames. Initially, she was assigned small tasks such as posting hotel reviews, for which she received modest payments credited to her bank account, reinforcing her trust in the scheme.

However, the fraudsters later persuaded her to invest larger sums under the pretext of “gold purchase tasks” and “exclusive trading opportunities” through websites and links shared on Telegram. Over the course of December 11 and 12, she transferred money through UPI, RTGS and bank transfers to multiple accounts across different banks, as instructed by the accused.

Police records indicate that the woman transferred a total of ₹8.15 lakh to various bank accounts. While an amount of ₹13,340 was returned to her in small instalments to maintain credibility, the remaining ₹8.02 lakh was not refunded despite repeated assurances. She was allegedly told that technical errors, incorrect transactions and even a “low credit score” were reasons for withholding her money, and was repeatedly pressured to pay additional amounts to recover her investment.

Realising she had been duped, the complainant contacted the National Cyber Crime Helpline (1930) and subsequently approached the Cyber Crime Branch in Ahmedabad to lodge a detailed complaint, providing transaction records, phone numbers, Telegram IDs and website links allegedly used by the fraudsters.

Police have registered an offence for cheating, criminal conspiracy and online fraud, and have begun analysing bank accounts, digital trails and communication records linked to the case. Officials said efforts are under way to identify and trace the accused, many of whom operated using fake identities and multiple online platforms.