A quest to get a stable job, a dream to get two daughters married, and a desire to live a tranquil life led the 53-year-old chef Arun to the nightmare of his life—a fraud of Rs. 1.7 lakh.
The wave of covid wiped away major finances Arun had earned, making his life unstable, leaning him towards worry to arrange financing for his two daughters’ weddings. Arun, originally hailing from Delhi, fled to Kochi for a job, where he contacted a Bengaluru-based agency called Educate Consultancy, which regularly posts overseas job opportunities on its WhatsApp group.
“After Covid, everyone was struggling. We were all looking for a good job, and whatever savings we had at home were exhausted. I went to Kochi for work, and there I got a number from an agency that sends people abroad for jobs. I was added to their group, and that’s where the fraud began,” he told FoEJ Media.
Arun learned about the group through a link forwarded by a friend. Details that made the Bengaluru connection seem credible. He assured Arun that the process was legitimate, after which Arun was added to the WhatsApp group.
“He (the accused) explained that the entire process, including airfare, would cost around ₹2.80 lakh and assured that all formalities—from embassy paperwork to visa approvals—would be handled by him. I was asked to pay 2.5 lakh,” Arun told FoEJ Media.
“A few days later, they informed me that there was a vacancy for a chef in New Zealand,” he added.
The Continuity of the Trap
Ecstatic by the opportunity, Arun did not realize that this could lead him to a trap and he would lose the little he owned. Arun was later sent a copy of the “offer letter,” and he paid Kiran “Rs 15,000 and got a copy of the e-Visa in September.”
“I grew suspicious, but he told me that I could cancel if I wanted—only the money wouldn’t be refunded.” Arun said.
Doubts Turned Real
In the first week of September, Arun was asked to make another payment of Rs. 1.48 lakh; unaware of the consequences, he made the payment.
Arun was informed that his flight would depart from Mumbai and that he needed to travel there from Delhi, with a promise that the cost of this additional ticket would be refunded. On September 7, the agency sent him what appeared to be the confirmed travel tickets, FoEJ Media learned.
He later searched for the agency’s office online but found no trace of it. When he questioned the administrator, he was reassured that everything was in order. Soon after, the responses stopped. His calls went unanswered.
“I told them I wanted to meet, but they didn’t give me the correct address. After that, they started making excuses on calls to avoid me. Then they stopped answering my calls, and eventually they stopped replying to my messages as well,” Arun told FoEJ Media.
Later on, Arun approached the police. An FIR was registered at the Cyber Police Station in the Southwest district.
As reported by the Indian Express, on December 2, the Delhi Police arrested three men for allegedly running an interstate cyber-fraud syndicate that targeted job seekers with fake overseas employment offers. Among those duped was Arun.
Indian Express further reported that police identified the arrested men as Ketan Deepak Kumar (24) from Gujarat, Sanjib Mondal (34) from West Bengal, and Ravi Kumar Mishra (29), an assistant manager at Sarvodaya Bank who had earlier worked with Yes Bank. According to investigators, the trio lured job seekers with promises of lucrative employment abroad and funneled the defrauded money through bank accounts opened with forged documents.
“I am very grateful to the Delhi Police. They registered my FIR immediately and took swift action. They helped me a lot.” Arun said while talking to FoEJ Media.
