A 40-year-old software engineer at a well-known IT company in Pune, India, has become the latest victim of online scams, after the head teacher of a Malaysian girls' kindergarten was defrauded of RM1.6 million.

The female IT technician is said to have lost Rs 1.93 million (167,000 yuan) when she was at her home in Pinchin between June 1 and 9 when she was scammed by online scammers. On Tuesday, she filed a police report.

Vivek Kumatkar, sub-inspector of Pinchin Police, said the victim received a message about a part-time job on June 1, which promised a generous salary. "She was told to open an account on a mobile messaging app. She had to complete the rating task, "police said.

Initially, the woman received money after completing the task. She was then told she could earn more by investing in pre-paid tasks.

"The woman continued to invest. She could see the profits earned from her investment in the app's profile, "police said.

But when the woman wanted to withdraw the profits, she was told to increase her investment. "After spending almost all of her savings, she borrowed money from acquaintances and transferred the money to the scammers," police said.

"It was only after losing Rs 1.932 lakh that she realised she had been cheated and did not respond to the scammer," he added.