Woman duped of gold, cash in Insta job fraud

Lucknow: A cyber fraud case surfaced in Lucknow's Madiyaon area where a young woman was allegedly duped of cash and gold jewellery by fraudsters who befriended her on Instagram and lured her with a fake job offer.According to police, the accused used an Instagram account with the ID ‘Lakshay_0606', belonging to a deceased youth from Hardoi. The victim, a resident of Aadharkheda in Faizullaganj, was gradually manipulated into transferring money into multiple bank accounts on the pretext of securing employment. The accused also allegedly coerced her into sending gold jewellery, including three chains, two rings, six earrings, a top and two lockets via buses operating between Kaisarbagh and Hardoi. The fraud came to light after the victim's father traced the bank accounts and contacted individuals linked to the transactions. It was revealed that the account was operated by the accused Sanjeev Pandey alias Sandeep Pandey and Sonu Sardar.When confronted, the accused allegedly pressured the family to settle the matter and threatened to circulate obscene photos of the victim on social media.