Looking for a work-from-home job? Beware of swindlers offering money for a job as easy as liking YouTube videos. Gangs are preying on people looking for part-time jobs to work sitting at home with a motive to fleece them of their hard-earned money.

The Chandigarh Police have busted a ‘work-from-home’ scam where unsuspecting job seekers lured with easy work ended up investing huge sums in the hope of high returns.

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The gang duped as many as 181 residents, including housewives and unemployed youth, of Chandigarh of over Rs 3.97 crore in seven months.

A police probe revealed money laundering of the ill-gotten amount through current accounts of 20 shell companies. Bank accounts being handled by operators in Dubai were used to transfer crores of rupees abroad.

Nine suspects involved in the scam have been arrested from Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan. They have been identified as Sandeep Kumar Sangwan (28), Manish Rawat (33), Rakesh (28), Aditya Sharma (20), Mahesh Sharma (34), Raj Kumar Narang (47), Pratik Maingi (35), Mahesh Kumar (35), and Vishal Verma (34).

Explaining the modus operandi adopted by the gang, Superintendent of Police, Cyber Cell, Ketan Bansal said they would offer part-time jobs through WhatsApp or Telegram. Once a job seeker establishes contact with them, he or she would be made to join WhatsApp or Telegram groups through links.

Members of these groups were apparently associated with the gang as they convinced new members about the “genuineness” of the job and their payment system. To win the trust of the victim, the gang would send a link of YouTube videos and channels to be liked or subscribed.

A complainant was paid Rs 210 and Rs 90 for likes for the YouTube videos sent to him/her as part of the work-from-home job.

The police said after paying such paltry amounts, the gang would invite the victims to invest money for high returns. A Chandigarh resident, Kanwaljeet Singh, was made to invest over Rs 38 lakh with a promise of high returns for just liking or sharing YouTube videos.

“Once a victim transfers the money to their account, they would remove him/her from the groups,” Bansal said.

After duping the victims, the fraudsters used to invest the money in crypto currencies in Dubai, China, Indonesia and Pakistan through various digital wallets.

The police said a few chartered accountants, employees of reputed private banks and advocates were also involved in the scam. They helped the gang in opening shell companies and fake accounts in different banks.