Begumpet man defrauded of over Rs. 3.5L in Telegram task scam impersonating Goibibo
Hyderabad: A 27-year-old resident of Begumpet was duped of more than ₹3.5 lakh in an online scam carried out via Telegram and WhatsApp. The fraudsters posed as representatives of the “Goibibo India Promotions Department” and lured the victim into a fake task-based earning scheme.
The victim was first contacted on WhatsApp and Telegram, where the scammers introduced a scheme involving rating hotels through links. To gain the victim’s trust, they initially credited ₹970 and later ₹17,109 as supposed commissions for completed tasks.
On June 22, the victim was added to a Telegram group where others shared screenshots of their “earnings,” which further encouraged participation. Believing the scheme to be legitimate, the victim invested ₹1 lakh.
The scammers then manipulated a fake website to display a negative wallet balance and urged the victim to “recharge” the account to recover the balance and continue earning. On the same day, the victim paid an additional ₹88,027 and ₹1 lakh. Another payment of ₹1,69,882 was made on June 23.
The website later showed a negative balance of ₹5 lakh, and the scammers tried to convince the victim to invest further, falsely promising a return of ₹14–15 lakh. Realizing the fraud, the victim reported the incident by calling the national cybercrime helpline 1930.
Public Advisory:
- Do not trust financial offers made through Telegram, WhatsApp, or other unverified platforms. Reputable companies do not conduct promotions through random messaging apps.
- Avoid clicking on unfamiliar links or joining suspicious groups.
- Be cautious of schemes promising high returns for little effort.
- Always verify the identity of those claiming to represent known brands by contacting official support channels.
- Never invest money through unregulated or third-party websites.
- Preserve all communication and transaction records as evidence.
Victims of cyber fraud can call the helpline 1930 or report the incident at cybercrime.gov.in. For emergencies, contact or WhatsApp 8712665171.
