Mumbai Doctor Duped Of Rs 1 Crore In 'Telegram Movie Rating Scam'

The scammers further lured the doctor by asking him to transfer an amount of Rs 9,900 to an unknown bank account to "become eligible" for a higher commission for "reviewing movies."

At a time when Indians are getting scammed via WhatsApp "job offers" and getting duped by getting offers such as "like YouTube videos and earn money", a doctor from Mumbai has been duped of a whopping Rs 1 crore to a "movie rating review" scam, says a report by Times Of India. This scam was carried out on messaging platform Telegram wherein the scammers lured the doctor and offered money for rating movies online. The message was sent on Telegram by a user named "Hafiza@094." The doctor apparently earned Rs 830 by rating a movie "5 stars" at the beginning.

The scammers further lured the doctor by asking him to transfer an amount of Rs 9,900 to an unknown bank account to "become eligible" for a higher commission. His online ticket rating account displayed that he made Rs 31 lakh again by rating, but when he wanted to withdraw the “commission,” the cyber crooks asked him to deposit Rs 15 lakh and eventually the “commission” value became Rs 1.96 crore in a few days. The scammers also threatened the doctor with an "income tax raid" and asked him to pay an additional Rs 8 lakh as "income tax."

Earlier this week, an Indian Express report detailed how students are falling prey to "courier scam" or parcel scam". While "courier scam" or "courier fraud" has been around for a while, it is now on the rise. A Bengaluru student is the latest to fall prey to the courier scam and was duped of Rs 1.34 lakh.The accused in the courier scam pose as police officials and CBI officers and target youth by telling them that a courier or parcel with illegal items has been sent in their name and warning them of action if they do not pay up.

To recall, Nithin Kamath, Co-Founder of retail brokerage firm Zerodha warned netizens about a "new scam in the name of FedEx, Blue Dart, and other courier companies" last week. The 43-year-old entrepreneur said scammers were impersonating officials from the CBI and crime branch to deceive individuals with fabricated cases. Kamath narrated the incident which involved a person claiming to be a FedEx official in a Twitter thread.