A woman has been arrested in Mumbai after she and a man allegedly cheated a couple of Rs 27 lakh under the pretext of helping them with a job in London and visas to the United Kingdom, police have said, reported news agency PTI.

The arrest of the accused, identified as Akanksha Rajendra Tiwari, may help the police uncover more such cases, he said on Tuesday. Police are also looking for another accused in the case, reported PTI.

In his complaint to the Kandivali police, Vikas Vidur Kumar Khativeda, an engineering consultant, said his wife Monika Dahal wanted to work in London. While searching for agencies in Mumbai offering job-plus-visa services, she came across a private company on social media, reported PTI.

The company had posted several stories claiming to offer jobs as well as visa services for the UK, Canada, Australia, Europe, and other countries. Dahal contacted the number provided and was introduced to the accused Akanksha Tiwari, said the official.

Citing the FIR, the official said the couple met Tiwari in an office in Raghuleela Mall, Kandivali. Based on the instructions of Tiwari and one Rohit Songara, who claimed to be the company owner, they paid Rs 27 lakh between June 2024 and May this year, he said, reported PTI.

However, even after repeated promises, neither the work visa for Dahal nor the dependent visa for her husband was provided. Both accused subsequently began avoiding them.

Soon after, the couple found out that the Kandivali office of the company was shut and that it had moved to the Malad area, but the accused were not found there either.

Realising that they had been cheated, the husband filed a complaint with the Kandivali police, the official said.

Police registered a case against Tiwari and Songara and subsequently arrested the woman, the official said, adding efforts are being made to nab the other accused.

Woman cheated of Rs 7 lakh in online `task` fraud

In another case, fraudsters duped a 26-year-old woman out of Rs 7 lakh in an online task fraud, police said on Tuesday, reported PTI.

The woman even mortgaged the jewellery her family owned to raise the money they asked her to transfer, said an official of Ghatkopar police station.

As per the complaint, the woman came across an advertisement about a part-time Anganwadi (daycare centre) job while watching reels on social media, and clicked the link, reported PTI.

Unidentified fraudsters then contacted her, and engaged her in chatting on WhatsApp and later a Telegram group.

They first gave her an online `task`, and after she completed it, she received a message about the receipt of payment in her account, reported PTI.

Later, they provided her with more tasks and showed a payment of Rs 1,040 in her account after finishing. When she asked how she would claim the amount, they asked her to deposit Rs 1,78,000 into certain bank accounts, which she did.

When the fraudsters contacted her again on Sunday and asked her to deposit more money, the woman mortgaged her family`s jewellery to raise the amount.

She realised that she had been duped only when the fraudsters stopped replying to her messages.

Ghatkopar police registered an FIR against three persons under relevant sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita for cheating and other offences and further investigation is underway, the official added.

(With inputs from PTI)

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