Police on Monday arrested one Ch. Surender Kumar, who duped people of nearly Rs. 68.96 lakh, with false assurances of earning money by clicking on online advertisements.
The accused allegedly collected Rs. 68.96 lakh from over 700 persons who joined his company under different schemes, the Commissioner’s Task Force Additional DCP, P. Rameshaiah, said. The accused, belonging to Nellore, was arrested three years ago on the charge of cheating people by collecting money on the assurance of providing discounts on different consumer products.
In the latest case, he started a company called Siri Financial Corporation at Ameerpet crossroads and released advertisements stating that people can earn money by working from home. He enrolled members under different schemes for which they had to pay sums ranging from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000.
Depending on the amount paid, the members would be assured returns each month. He would ask the members to log into a website siriscreensaverads.com, which he had created. The website would display ads of different companies. He led the members believe that clicking on the ads would earn them points based on which the monthly returns would be given.
After collecting the money from depositors, he disappeared. An amount of Rs. 1.9 lakh and three computers were recovered from him.