Kashmiri student duped of Rs 4.30 lakh by cyber criminals

Mumbai: A 20-year-old engineering student from Jammu and Kashmir was duped of Rs 4.30 lakh by cyber criminals in a `task fraud', city police said on Wednesday.

The student, who lives in the college hostel in Matunga, received a WhatsApp message from an unidentified number in which the sender introduced herself as `Pallavi Jha', said an official.

She offered a `task' to the victim, telling him that he could earn Rs 2,000 to 8,000 daily by posting online reviews. When he accepted the proposal, he was added to a Telegram channel and initially he received money for the completion of a task, the official said.

But later, he was given bigger tasks and asked to deposit money as security, following which he deposited a total of Rs 4.30 lakhs from time to time.

When the demand for money did not cease, he realised that he had been duped, and filed a complaint with Matunga Police.

Probe was underway, said the official.