Promise of Gold, Cash: How A Fake Call Turned Into Months-Long Nightmare For This ASHA Worker
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Pushpalata Jharia, an ASHA worker from Jabalpur, fell victim to a cyber scam, losing Rs 4 lakh and enduring months of hardship.
As rising cybercrime keeps cyber cell on its toes with new cases emerging every day, a woman in Madhya Pradesh became the latest victim of the digital fraud which 'she still believes" will earn her promised reward.
Pushpalata Jharia, a 36-year-old ASHA worker from Bargi area of Jabalpur, had always believed that hard work pays off and brings its own rewards.
Jharia life mostly revolved around caring for villagers' health, raising her two children, and supporting her husband, who did odd jobs to keep the family going. But her life turned upside down after she got a phone call in March, dragging her into a months-long nightmare.
According to a report in NDTV, in March, Pushpalata received a call from a foreign number that promised her a grand prize of diamonds, gold, and Rs 10 lakh in cash. The caller told her she would have to pay a small 'processing" fee in order to claim it. As the web of deceit continued, that fee snowballed into a total of Rs 4 lakh—money she didn't have. Excited, the fraud victim borrowed money from relatives, others and even used her niece's phone to transfer funds.
In order to make Pushpalata remain trapped in their web, the clever conmen warned her to stay silent else she would lose the prize. Believing the fraudsters to be genuine people, she stayed quiet.
The scam continued for weeks. Later on, fraudsters claiming a courier guy who was carrying her prize had been arrested and her Aadhaar card found with him, threatened her to pay more money to evade arrest. Caught between fear and hope, Pushpalata kept paying.
Her story took dramatic turn when she disappeared from her maternal home in April, raising suspicions and prompting her family to a missing report on May 4.
It came to light that during her 'missing" period, Pushpalata had begun a heartbreaking journey—from Jabalpur to Mumbai, then Surat, and finally Delhi. Spending days at railway stations and surviving on langar meals, she sent whatever money she earned from odd jobs to the scammers.
Her ordeal came to light in June when conmen made her record a video, appearing kidnapped, sobbing, and pleading for help. The video was then sent to her husband, demanding a Rs 2 lakh ransom, threatening to kill her if money wasn't paid.
Out of fear, her family approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which then ordered a police investigation. Fortunately, a phone call from Greater Noida helped trace her. She was rescued on a lonely afternoon, weak and emotionally shattered.
Even after meeting her family members, Pushpalata remained under the scammers' spell.
'She's still under the illusion that this was all part of a bigger plan and she will be rewarded in the end," NDTV quoted CSP Anjul Mishra as saying. 'We are counselling her," the CSP added.
With the cyber trail pointing to foreign IP addresses, the cyber con are still at large. Authorities say it is difficult to trace them easily due to lack of international cooperation.
Meanwhile, Pushpalata struggles to reclaim her reality after losing everything to a lie.
First Published:
June 20, 2025, 12:15 IST
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