Duped of Rs 2 lakh: Bengaluru man arrested over work-from-home fraud

Udupi: The police have arrested a man from Bengaluru for allegedly duping a person of over Rs 2 lakh through a fake work-from-home job offer.

The accused has been identified as Sridhar V (27), a resident of Yeshwanthpur in Bengaluru.

Police have seized a mobile phone, multiple bank ATM cards, and Rs 1.74 lakh in cash from his possession. Additionally, Rs 27,086 found in the accused’s bank account was frozen, said Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar.

According to the complaint, Ramesh Naik from Naalkuru village in Hebri had come across an advertisement for a data entry work-from-home job on his mobile phone in December 2024. He applied for the position and was later contacted by the so-called company via various mobile numbers and WhatsApp.

Between December 19, 2024, and June 20 this year, the accused convinced the complainant to make multiple payments through Google Pay and PhonePe under pretexts such as security deposit, account creation, and error modification charges, resulting in a total of 98 transactions amounting to Rs 2.02 lakh. Based on the complaint, a case was registered at Hebri Police Station under Section 66(D) of the IT Act and Section 318(4) of the BNS.

The arrest was made under the guidance of Karkala Sub-Division Assistant Superintendent of Police Harsha Priyamvada. The operation was led by Karkala Circle Inspector Manjappa DR, with the support of Hebri PSI Ravi BK, staff member Sujith Kumar, and Ajekaru station personnel Satish Belle, Shivananda, Prashanth, Vishwanath, Nagaraj, and Shashikumar. The accused was produced before the court, which has remanded him in judicial custody.