Work-from-Home Job Promises Ratings, Delivers Ruin: Pune Man Rated Out of ₹2.72 Crore

Lured by promises of attractive and easy earnings through a “work-from-home Google review” scheme, a 51-year-old tax consultant from Pune was allegedly manipulated by cyber fraudsters into making 33 high-value transactions over a period of nearly two months. By the time he realised he had been trapped in an elaborate online task fraud, he had already lost a staggering ₹2.72 crore to a network of mule accounts operated by an organised cybercrime syndicate. According to officials from the Pune City Cyber Crime Police Station, an FIR has been registered based on a complaint filed by the victim, a resident of the Bibwewadi area. Preliminary investigation suggests that the fraudsters used a structured “task-based earning” model to gain the victim’s trust before gradually escalating financial demands under the guise of higher-paying assignments and account verification requirements. The victim reportedly received an unsolicited message on Telegram from a profile posing as a woman, introducing a so-called “work from home” opportunity that promised earnings starting from ₹100 per task for simply posting or verifying online reviews. Initially, small payments may have been credited to build confidence, a common tactic used in such scams, before larger investments and “upgrade tasks” were introduced. Cyber police sources say the fraud followed a typical pattern seen in digital task scams, where victims are added to groups, given incremental rewards, and then pressured into depositing larger sums to unlock higher returns. The money is then quickly routed through multiple mule accounts, making recovery extremely difficult. Investigators are now tracking the money trail and identifying the accounts involved, while also warning citizens to remain cautious of unsolicited online job offers, especially those promising easy income for simple digital activities like likes, reviews, or ratings. Authorities have reiterated that no legitimate company pays users through private messaging apps for bulk review tasks and have urged people to verify such schemes before engaging financially.