Marathi actor Sagar Karande loses Rs 61 lakh in online 'task' fraud

Marathi actor Sagar Karande lost over Rs 61 lakh to cyber fraudsters who promised him money for liking Instagram videos, a police official said on Friday.

This modus operandi is part of what is now called 'task' fraud. In this, scammers offer people money for repetitive tasks such as liking videos or rating products, before asking them to invest big amounts to move on to higher levels for greater returns.

The actor lodged a complaint with North Region Cyber police station on Monday. As per the FIR, Karande received a WhatsApp message on his mobile number on February 23 from one Meena Sakpal from Epsilon Company Limited, who offered him Rs 150 per like on Instagram.

"He clicked on a link sent by the woman and 'liked' one video as part of the task. He was then sent a promo code message link via Telegram asking him to provide details such as name, age, gender, WhatsApp number. The complainant sent these details and also the UPI ID of his wife to receive payments," the official said.

"He was then added to another group of Telegram accounts, where different tasks were provided to the members. The actor received Rs 11,000 for 10 different tasks on the group. After completing several tasks, the fraudsters then asked him to invest money, promising him higher returns. They even created a wallet for the actor to show his so-called earnings," the official said.

When he tried to withdraw these ‘earnings’, he was asked to deposit Rs 19 lakh, the official said.

"The victim eventually ended up paying Rs 61.83 lakh into various bank accounts and UPI IDs. After realising that he had been cheated, he approached the cyber police station. A case was registered against three persons under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Information Technology Act," the official said.