Task game fraud cases shoot up, woman loses 22 lakhs in Visakhapatnam

Addressing the increasing cases of ‘task game fraud’ in the city, Visakhapatnam City Police Commissioner CM Thrivikrama Varma IPS spoke to the media on Friday, 25 August 2023. The CP stated that this year witnessed an alarming increase in such fraudulent cases, where the victims were looted of lakhs under the guise of easy money and high profits.

Speaking to the media, Commissioner Varma stated that fraudsters organising such crimes predominantly target job seekers whose details they find on job search websites and other platforms. The total amount reported to be lost by the victims in such cases this year is estimated to be around Rs 9.58 crores, according to the police report. He highlighted that the public must not fall victim to anonymous persons offering part-time jobs or easy money through simple tasks.

Revealing the details of one such case, Varma said that a girl was looted of a whopping Rs 22 lakhs. In their modus operandi, the fraudsters first interacted with the victim, stating that she would be rewarded Rs 150 for reviewing a few hotels in the city. The perpetrators gained her trust by depositing the mentioned amount in her bank account and further assigned her a few other tasks.

Eventually, the crime organisers added her to a WhatsApp group with four other participants and was asked to send Rs 2,000, for which she would be rewarded Rs 2,800. They also sent fake transaction details of other beneficiaries to make her believe the additional amount would be deposited to her account once she sent Rs 2,000. Sensing foul play, the victim tried to pull out of the games but was stopped by the others in the group, who were also fraudsters in disguise. They emotionally trapped her, stating they would lose their money if she pulled out. When she tried to withdraw her reward money from the task game organisers, they said the reward would be released only after completing all the tasks.

Helpless, the victim went on to deposit money with the fraudsters in lakhs and realised that it was a scam after losing around Rs 22 lakhs. The Visakhapatnam City Police Commissioner informed that another person lost Rs 7.5 lakhs in a task game fraud. Alerting the public, he appealed to them not to fall victim to easy money.

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