Lucknow: A woman has been allegedly duped of over Rs 4 lakh in the name of completing a 'click farm' task in Lucknow.
A 'click farm' is a form of click fraud where a large group of low-paid workers are hired to click on paid advertising links for the click fraudster.
The victim was searching online for a work from home (WFH) job when she got a call from a woman who identified herself as a representative of a 'click farm' that generates likes for social media videos of their clients who want to be influencers.
The caller asked the victim to register herself by providing all her details on the company's website and paying Rs 1,000 as fee.
She was promised a handsome salary for daily liking 40 videos, links of which would be sent to her by the company.
The woman took the job and got Rs 4,000 for liking 40 videos. Later, she was told to make some investment following which she would get a better return. "The accused made her download an application and asked her to transfer Rs 4.21 lakh in 12 different transactions," said the police based on the facts mentioned in the FIR. She was given 40 tasks and told that she had 520 USTD (Bitcoin) in her account.
"Every time I deposited the money, I was shown on a website that the money I invested had become three times of its value instantly, but I cannot get it directly in my bank without completing the task and this way I was duped of the money," she said.
SHO, Vikas Nagar, Shivananda Mishra, said an FIR under charges of IPC 420 (cheating) and IT Act against unidentified person has been lodged.
The cyber cell is also investigating the case.Â
—IANS