Surat Diamond Merchant Loses ₹5.17 Lakh in Online Job Scam

SURAT,GUJARAT :  Mayank Natwarlal Modi, a 39-year-old diamond trader from Surat, lost ₹5.17 lakh to online fraudsters. The event shows the growing threat of cybercrime, which targets naive persons looking for online job possibilities.

On January 3, 2024, Modi, a resident of Vrajbhumi Row House in Adajan and working as diamond trader received a WhatsApp message from a woman named Ritushree Borah, who claimed to represent ScoopVroop India, an online media organization. Borah offered Modi a part-time job with daily rewards of ₹210 to ₹2,000 for writing hotel reviews on Google Maps.

To build confidence, scammers credited Modi’s account with ₹1,000 after he fulfilled a few chores. Modi was encouraged by this, therefore he continued to execute other duties set by the group. The tasks ranged in value from ₹7,000 to ₹33,000 and ₹99. However, after each activity, the fraudsters claimed that Modi made mistakes, which purportedly reduced his “credit score.”

The group duped Modi by claiming that in order to recover his credit score and complete the outstanding duties, he needed to pay increasing sums. They wanted ₹1.99 lakh and later ₹1.80 lakh, taking advantage of Modi’s concerns about his alleged faults and credit score.

The scammers gradually increased their payment demands, resulting in Modi depositing ₹5.23 lakh over four days. Despite guarantees and a tiny repayment of ₹6,630 to maintain the illusion, the full ₹5.17 lakh was never refunded, leaving Modi with enormous losses.

Realizing he had been tricked, Modi filed a complaint with the local police against three unnamed people. The case exposed fraudsters’ complex and deceptive techniques for exploiting persons seeking legitimate internet job opportunities.