Movie-rating scam: Mumbai doctor loses Rs 1 crore to fraudsters

Mumbai: In another fraud case reported in the city, a complaint was lodged against a fraudster for allegedly conning a 43-year-old doctor out of Rs 1 crore in an online movie rating scam.  

The doctor, a resident of Gokul Township in Virar (West), got scammed by a fraudster in the beginning of this year through a message on the Telegram App.

The incident took place on January 2, when the doctor received a text on the app about an opportunity how to earn money by rating movies online. Taking the bait, the doctor opened an account and shared the bank details with the woman who messaged her as Hafiza@094. 

Also read- Cyber Fraud: Delhi Doctor Swindled Out Of Rs 4.5 Crore

The doctor followed every instruction of the woman and received 28 tickets online for a movie which he had to rate. He was able to make Rs 830 in the first transaction by rating a movie 5 stars.

This made the doctor believe the woman, who later instructed him to pay more money in order to get a higher commission. Therefore, he transferred Rs 9,900 to an unknown bank account as per her instruction. Now, post doing this, his online ticket rating account displayed that he made a staggering Rs 31 lakh in commission profits, but when he wanted to withdraw the said “commission,” the fraudsters asked him to deposit a sum of Rs 15 lakh.

This cycle went on, and eventually, the “commission” value became Rs 1.96 crore in a few days. In order to recover the commission, the doctor later deposited Rs 1.09 crore but never received the commission. 

As per a media report in TOI, the woman also threatened him with an income tax raid which prompted the doctor to take three loans to pay the fraudsters. He paid her Rs 8 lakh as income tax. 

After realising that the doctor had become the victim of a cyber scam, he approached the police and filed a complaint against the fraudster on June 25. The police are currently investigating the case. 

Also read- Crypto Trading Fraud: Mumbai Doctor Among 9 Others Duped Of Rs 1.5 Crore