Gurugram techie loses Rs 42 lakh in 'like YouTube videos' WhatsApp scam

A software engineer at an IT company in Gurugram Sector 102 has allegedly been swindled out of a staggering amount of over Rs 42 lakh.

Scammers tempted the unsuspecting techie with promises of substantial earnings for simply liking videos on YouTube.

On March 24, the victim got a WhatsApp message promising him a part-time job in which he could earn extra income by liking YouTube videos. He agreed to join the group, only to be added to a Telegram app group. The group members wasted no time in persuading him to invest his money, tempting him with guaranteed returns.

The victim then sent Rs 42,31,600 to the fraudsters from his and his wife's bank accounts.

"When I agreed to work with them, a woman named Divya added me to a group on the Telegram app. She asked me to invest money with the claim of assured better returns. On the pretext of a task, they had asked me to invest and I transferred a total of Rs 42,31,600 from mine and my wife's bank accounts," the victim's complaint said.

The victim was initially told that he had profited Rs 69 lakh. But when he tried to withdraw the money, the fraudsters demanded an extra Rs 11,000 from him. The victim then decided to approach the police and file a complaint against the scammers.

In response to the complaint, the cybercrime division filed an FIR against the unknown fraudsters under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Act.

The police are also looking for bank information related to the transactions in order to track down the scammers. Further investigation into the case is underway.