Marathi TV actor conned of Rs 62 lakh in job scam

MUMBAI: In an important breakthrough, the cyber police station, north division, has arrested a key member of a cyber fraud gang involved in duping a well-known Marathi television actor of over Rs 61.83 lakh under the guise of an online part-time job scam.
Police have arrested Akshay Kumar Kumaragopalan, 26, from Bhiwandi, Thane. A mobile phone recovered from his possession revealed details of four bank accounts and use of 10 different email IDs. Police also found his active involvement in laundering cyber fraud funds using crypto wallets and foreign exchanges.
On March 31, 2025, a complaint was lodged by a Marathi actor residing in Kandivli,who was tricked into participating in a fraudulent scheme promising income through tasks like "liking videos on Instagram." The accused posed as an employee of a firm called Epsilon Company and initiated contact via WhatsApp.
The victim was soon moved to Telegram, where he was lured into joining a group and asked to complete prepaid tasks on a fake platform called UNKSUE.TOP. Through fabricated dashboards, the site falsely showed lakhs of rupees in benefits and rewards. When the victim attempted to withdraw the profits, he was told to pay additional charges citing credit score issues and tax deductions, leading to the cumulative fraud of Rs. 61.83 lakh.
Despite cyber criminals' deliberate attempts to conceal their identities, a meticulous investigation led to tracing of bank accounts used in the fraud.