Social media job scam: Palakkad man dupes 500 people with fake driver vacancy ad

Kollam: A 27-year-old man who allegedly defrauded hundreds of people across Kerala by advertising a fake driver vacancy on social media has been arrested by the Kollam City Cyber Police.

Choondakkat Parambilveetil, Vishnu of Kavalappara, Shoranur, Palakkad, is accused of cheating more than 500 people, each of whom lost ₹1,560, amounting to over ₹8 lakh. Kollam DCRB ACP Nazir said the total number of victims will be confirmed after further investigation.

Police said Vishnu posted advertisements on social media claiming there was a vacancy for a driver at a doctor’s residence in Thiruvananthapuram with a salary of ₹32,000. Interested candidates were asked to send their driving licence to the number listed in the advertisement.

The post, which received 2.5 million views on Instagram alone, instructed applicants to register at an office in Ernakulam or, if unable to attend in person, to send their licence and Aadhaar details via WhatsApp along with a ₹560 registration fee. Victims were later asked to pay an additional ₹1,000 for verification, after which they were blocked. The ad, phone number and account would then be deleted, and the scheme repeated with new credentials.

Police said the suspect frequently changed phones and SIM cards to evade detection. He was traced through a phone number that remained in use despite the changes.

The scam came to light when a Kottiyam resident filed a complaint through the cybercrime helpline 1930. Kollam City Cyber Police found similar complaints in several districts, revealing that the accused had allegedly carried out similar fraud for more than a year using multiple bank accounts, SIM cards and mobile devices.