Vizagites duped of Rs 42 lakh in restaurant review scam
Visakhapatnam: In yet another incident, scammers lured people into writing restaurant reviews on social media, then invested in the rating business before making off with their money. Cybercrooks duped more than 20 people in parts of the Vizag region to the tune of over Rs 42 lakh by asking them to write reviews and invest.A woman residing in Vizag fell victim to a deceptive online scheme, resulting in a loss exceeding Rs 6 lakhs. She was initially drawn in by the prospect of earning some money by rating hotels and restaurants online, but the reality turned out to be quite different.The police said the woman, looking to augment her income by exploring online opportunities, received a WhatsApp message from an unknown person. She was offered to earn money by giving ratings to restaurants and sending a link. Later, she was added to the Telegram App, where she was instructed to complete the rating tasks. The woman completed some tasks and got some money.Falling victim to the scheme, the woman was asked to invest money with a 30 percent commission. Trusting the callers, the woman transferred over Rs 6 lakh in anticipation of substantial returns, but she realised that she had been cheated.Similarly, more than 20 people from parts of Vizag fell victim to the ratings scam. Though they initially got some returns by rating hotels and restaurants online, the reality turned out to be quite different after they invested money in high and quick returns.The cybercrime police have issued public advice over a sharp increase in online trading and investment frauds, in which citizens are being duped by scammers posing as financial advisors on social media platforms, Telegram and WhatsApp.The police said fraudsters have been aggressively targeting women and unemployed youth by promising quick and assured profits through task-based games, online ratings on hotels and restaurants, forex and stock trading. The scammers rely on polished fake websites, manipulated trading dashboards and fabricated profit screenshots to trap victims into investing larger amounts.
