Cruise job scam: Mangaluru woman cheated of ₹4.1 lakh

Mangaluru: A 21-year-old woman was allegedly cheated of Rs 4.1 lakh by fraudsters who lured her with a cruise ship bartender job and assistance with visa processing.According to the complaint, the victim came across an Instagram post on April 13 from an account named ‘Recruiting Agency’ related to cruise ship jobs. On clicking the post, she was connected to a WhatsApp number.The accused introduced themselves as representatives of ‘Princess Cruise Lines Ltd, California, USA’. One of them, Johnny Faevelen, identified himself as the hiring manager and offered her a bartender job on a cruise ship.She was asked to pay Rs 10,000 as registration fees, which she transferred via Google Pay to a bank account shared by the accused.The fraudsters later demanded additional payments under various pretexts, including work permit charges, IELTS examination fees, visa processing charges, courier expenses and other formalities.Between April 14 and May 8, the victim allegedly transferred money multiple times to different bank accounts and QR codes shared through WhatsApp and Telegram. In total, she transferred Rs 4.1 lakh.A case was registered at the Mangaluru South Police Station.