Mumbai: The Oshiwara Police have arrested a 23-year-old man from Goa for allegedly cheating a Jogeshwari resident out of Rs 6.09 lakh through a fake job offer circulated on the messaging app Telegram. The accused, identified as Aman Parmar, a native of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, was tracked down and arrested last week in Calangute, Goa, with the assistance of the local police.
According to the Midday report the police mentioned, the victim is a 32-year-old man working as a supervisor in a slipper factory in Jogeshwari. On June 12, he received a message on Telegram from a person introducing himself as “Vijay.” The message promised daily earnings of Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 for simply rating restaurants online.
The victim followed the instructions given in the message and initially received Rs 180 as a “registration reward.” He was then directed to a link that looked like an official NSE (National Stock Exchange) investment site, where he was shown a fake balance to build trust.
Over the next few days, from June 12 to June 15, the victim was repeatedly asked to transfer money under the pretext of unlocking higher returns on his investments. Trusting the process, he sent a total of Rs 6,09,884 using Google Pay and PhonePe, as reported. Despite seeing his balance go up on the fake website, he never received any actual payouts. Realising he had been scammed, the man filed a complaint with Oshiwara Police, who then launched an investigation.
Based on technical analysis and tracking, the police traced the accused to Goa and arrested him with help from local law enforcement. Further investigation is underway to identify others possibly involved in the racket.
In an X post, Mumbai Police said they received a complaint about a Rs 6.09 lakh fraud where the victim was tricked into rating restaurants via Telegram. Acting swiftly, they traced the accused to Calangute, Goa, and arrested him with the help of local police. A mobile phone and two SIM cards were seized. Police urged citizens to stay alert and report such scams by calling 1930.
