Fraud gangs are active across the country, luring people with promises of earning lakhs online by making small investments. Taking advantage of the disruption and weakened law enforcement after the recent Gen-Z uprising, these groups have intensified their scams.
Fraudsters lure the public with attractive advertisements claiming that people can earn thousands of rupees a day from home. Many of these ads use the official logos of the Nepal government and various banks, making them appear authentic. Some even include names of international platforms like Amazon and Jumia. The goal in all cases is the same: to trap people with the promise of easy online income and then defraud them.
Advertisements often carry offers such as “Earn up to Rs 20,000 in just 5–10 minutes,” which attract large numbers of people. The process appears well planned. Once a user clicks the ad, they are directed to contact the scammers via WhatsApp or Telegram. Such advertisements have become common on Facebook, where comments reveal that many have already been duped.
The scam typically begins with small, harmless-looking tasks. Victims are asked to “like” certain Facebook pages or Instagram accounts and then receive up to Rs 1,000 in their bank account or digital wallet. This quick payout builds trust, and victims agree to do more tasks. Over two or three days, the payouts increase slightly, further boosting confidence.
By the fourth day, victims are encouraged to invest money to complete “tasks.” Once trapped in the investment cycle, they are pushed to deposit larger amounts, eventually reaching lakhs or even crores, on various pretexts. When victims can no longer pay, the fraudsters cut off contact. Many households have been financially ruined in this way, and some victims have even taken their own lives.
The bank accounts used in these scams often belong to Nepalis. People with limited financial knowledge are lured into renting out their accounts in exchange for a few hundred or thousand rupees, enabling fraudsters to funnel money through them.
The Gen-Z protests have weakened the police’s investigative capacity, making it harder to crack down on such fraud. The Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office, one of the country’s main agencies for investigating online crimes, saw its infrastructure destroyed in arson.
“We already had a shortage of computers and other equipment. After the protests, not a single computer in our office is intact, some were burned, some stolen, some vandalized,” said the office’s spokesperson, Superintendent of Police Kaji Kumar Acharya.
With district police offices also damaged, complaints of online fraud have piled up at the Cyber Bureau. Bureau spokesperson Deepak Raj Awasthi said, “Most district police offices have been vandalized. As a result, such cases are now concentrated in the bureau. We used to send manpower to other offices, but that is no longer possible.”
Statistics from the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office highlight the surge. In fiscal year 2080/81, there were 60 victims of online job or investment scams. By Chaitra 2081/82, that number had jumped to 457. This shows how rapidly such fraud is spreading.
Online investment scams have been active in Nepal for around two years under different names. In 2079, such scams were widespread, leading to “Operation Charlie” by the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office, then led by SSP (now AIGP) Dr. Manoj Kumar KC. Nine Chinese and ten Nepali nationals were arrested during that operation.
Since then, the main operators have remained out of reach. Only victims, small-scale investors, and people renting out their bank accounts and digital wallets for a few thousand rupees have been caught. The inability to trace the masterminds has limited the police’s progress.
Now, amid weakened enforcement, fraudsters are even more emboldened. Many people, having lost jobs or facing hardship, have become easy targets. The scammers prey on those in need.
In such a situation, the public has no choice but to stay vigilant. Greed for easy money can result in devastating losses. Awareness is the only safeguard.