A 52-year-old civil engineer, working for a private company, fell prey to a cyber-fraud where the fraudsters offered him a job in the UK and even conducted a fake video interview before tricking him into transferring Rs 9 lakh for arranging visa and other miscellaneous fees.
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An FIR was registered by the Sakinaka police against unknown persons on Friday. According to the complaint, on April 13, the complainant’s friend sent him an email related to a job opening. The complainant read it and sent his resume to ‘recruiter/maxiconstruction.org’ and the reply came some days later asking him to appear for a job interview’.
On April 15, the civil engineer was made to take a written test during a Skype video call and four days later, he received an email informing him that he had been selected for the job, the complaint stated, adding that he was asked to send his documents on email for arranging his visa for three years.
The fraudsters also gave him bank details and the mobile number of a James Moore, who they introduced as an executive assistant of the British Embassy in New Delhi, the complaint further stated. The engineer was asked to pay processing fees, verification fees and travel fees which was ‘refundable’, as well as for visa finalisation and work permit. Sensing foul play, the complainant felt suspicious and checked the procedure to get a job in the UK. Realising that he had to keep making the payments in order to get the job, he continued paying the fraudsters whenever asked to. In all, he paid Rs 9.09 lakh.
The fraudsters then sought another fee for giving him the job without further interviews while asking him to pay an additional travel fee and a fee for entering the UK, the complainant stated. This was when he realised that he had been duped and he requested the accused to return his money a number of times. However, the fraudsters then broke off communication, leaving the civic engineer with no option but to approach the police.