‘Playboy job promise cost him Rs 27,000': Duped in gigolo job scam, Delhi man starts running own gang

NEW DELHI: A shoe salesman hunting for a part-time gig online stumbled upon what seemed like an unusual but lucrative offer-gigolo services promising hefty payouts. Tempted, he called the number given, and soon found himself paying a barrage of bogus fees for registration, cab, hotel, massage kit, etc.

After paying Rs 27,135, he realised he'd been conned.He filed a complaint, which led the Central district's cyber police team to arrest two men running the racket. The accused were 25-year-old Himanshu and 19-year-old Vishal. The racket, which was being operated from Nangloi, was targeting job-seeking men with false promises of high-paying playboy assignments.During interrogation, the duo confessed to deliberately preying on male individuals, They believed that male victims would never report it.

Himanshu told police he had once been duped in the exact same way two years ago.

The scam came to light after the 27-year-old salesman in Inderlok registered a complaint through the National Cyber Crime Portal. "While searching for part-time work online, he found a listing for 'playboy jobs' offering a generous package for each visit to female clients. What followed was a series of demands for payments, each disguised as necessary fees.

When he realised the so-called employer only wanted money and no job ever materialised, he filed a complaint," DCP (Central) Nidhin Valsan said. A case was registered and a police team led by inspector Sandeep Panwar and supervised by ACP Suresh Khunga was formed. "Though the mobile numbers used by the suspects were switched off, the team relied on technical surveillance to trace the digital footprint. Eventually, the two accused were arrested," the DCP added.Police recovered four mobile phones and two SIM cards used in the crime. "The accused had procured SIM cards using fake identities and posted gigolo job listings on various free classifieds websites," another police officer said.The main accused, Himanshu, is a diploma-holder in architecture but was unemployed. "After being scammed himself, he decided to adopt the same trick to earn easy money. His associate Vishal, 19, is a school passout from Bihar's Muzaffarpur, who joined hands with Himanshu to escape mounting debt," the officer said.