Ludhiana: A 46-year-old man who returned to India recently from New Zealand has been defrauded of ₹21 lakh after falling for a sophisticated work-from-home scam advertised on social media.Deepinderpal Singh told Ludhiana Rural cybercrime cell that the ordeal had started on Feb 11 when he had clicked an Instagram advertisement promising easy income. The link directed him to a WhatsApp contact where a purported company representative offered commissions for completing simple online tasks, such as rating products.The scam followed a classic “task-based” trajectory. Initially, the fraudsters paid Deepinderpal Singh small returns on minor deposits to build trust. Once hooked, he was moved to a Telegram channel where he was pressured into making significantly larger transfers.While Deepinderpal Singh’s online dashboard showed his “profits” accumulating, the system blocked him from making withdrawals. When he questioned the delay, the scammers claimed a “technical error” had deactivated his account and insisted on further payments to unlock the funds. In an attempt to recover his initial capital, he continued to pay until his losses reached ₹21 lakh.The cybercrime cell has registered a first-information report (FIR) for cheating under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Its investigators are examining the digital footprint and financial transaction trails to identify the accused. Police have warned the public against accepting “job offers” that require upfront deposits or shift communications to encrypted messaging apps like Telegram.
