Mangaluru woman loses Rs 18.28 lakh in work-from-home, gold scam

Mangaluru woman loses Rs 18.28 lakh in work-from-home, gold scam

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Sep 28, 2026: A 44-year-old woman from Mangaluru was allegedly cheated of Rs 18.28 lakh in a scam involving a work-from-home job offer and a gold marketing scheme.

According to her complaint filed with the CEN Crime Police Station, the woman came across an advertisement in April offering a work-from-home job in the name of a leading global technology and IT services company. She contacted the mobile number provided in the advertisement.

The accused allegedly promised her a work-from-home job, a laptop and a monthly salary of up to Rs 30,000. They subsequently collected Rs 2,87,728 from her under various pretexts, including application fees, software installation charges and other expenses, she alleged.

The accused later allegedly introduced her to a “gold marketing project”, promising high returns. They assured her that the gold ornaments handed over for verification would be returned.

Trusting their assurances, the woman handed over 212.529 grams of gold ornaments in two instalments, valued at around Rs 15,40,745. However, the accused allegedly failed to return the gold and instead demanded additional money and jewellery.

On September 25, the accused allegedly contacted her through WhatsApp and initially demanded Rs 1.5 lakh, followed by another Rs 75,000.

The woman identified the accused as Surya, Chaitra and others and alleged that they operated as an organised group. She claimed to have been cheated of cash and gold worth a total of Rs 18,28,473.

The CEN Crime Police are investigating the case.