Under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Hyderabad, has provisionally attached Rs. 32.34 Crore which was found to be the balance in 580 bank accounts. This is in relation to a case involving a part-time job scam that was carried out under the pretence of reviewing and rating websites, hotels, resorts, etc.
Based on an FIR against unknown individuals filed by PS Cyber Crime, Hyderabad under different provisions of the Information Technology Act and IPC, 1860, the ED began an investigation. Following an inquiry, it was discovered that over 50 similar FIRs on part-time work fraud had been filed at different police stations throughout the nation.
According to an ED investigation, cybercriminals would approach naive individuals on WhatsApp and Telegram apps and entice them with part-time jobs involving simple tasks such as rating websites, hotels, resorts, tourist destinations, etc. with a daily income ranging from Rs. 1000-1500. The con artists would gather the victims’ basic information and then ask them to utilize links they sent to join specific Whatsapp and Telegram groups, where their accomplices would brag about their professions and leave thank-you notes indicating their great salary in exchange for the victims’ faith. The victims would then be required to provide their personal information, including bank account numbers, in order to register on fraudulent websites or Android apps.
The con artists would even give e-money or tokens worth Rs. 10,000 on the e-wallets on the fraudulent websites and applications in an attempt to entice them even further. For their virtual wallets to function, the victims were required to make deposits into multiple bank accounts. Every assignment that was assigned will deplete the wallet’s balance. In order to build confidence, the commission and profits were first permitted to be withdrawn to bank accounts. Subsequently, the victims would be forced to deposit more money by the agents on Telegram and WhatsApp in order to work harder and make more money.
Random pop-ups offering premium Part-Time Jobs that carried larger commissions or incentives but required additional deposits, resulting in the wallet balances going negative, would appear during the rating tasks. In order to continue with the rating assignments, victims were then prompted to replenish their wallets. The wallet funds were locked and could not be withdrawn in the event of nonpayment. The victims would see the premium chores more frequently, demanding extra payments. If they couldn’t afford it, they would be forced to deposit the money anyhow, or else their whole wallet balance would be lost.
The victims would complete all chores, but when they attempted to withdraw money that appeared in their online wallets, the transactions would be refused with a variety of illogical explanations and a request for further payment to cover the refundable withdrawal cost. WhatsApp agents would stop contacting and withdrawals would not be possible, even after some victims deposited such sums.
The main perpetrators of the scam managed the bank accounts located in the United Arab Emirates. They had previously gathered a sizable quantity of bank account kits that included debit cards, chequebooks, and SIM cards linked to Internet banking credentials. These kits were obtained from a number of middlemen who either paid commissions to open bank accounts in the names of shell companies using fictitious or forged documentation.
An ED probe found that the con artists amassed over Rs. 524 crore in over 175 bank accounts, which they used for a maximum of 1 to 15 days before routinely transferring the funds to other accounts. Money tracking showed that the fraudulent funds obtained from these 175 bank accounts were moved to over 480 bank accounts, where they were mostly utilized for the acquisition of cryptocurrency, hawala payments inside India, and international remittances purportedly made as import payments. Additional research is currently being conducted.
