Bajhang, Jan. 11 -- Suman Upadhyaya, a resident of ward 4 of Jayaprithvi Municipality in Bajhang, received a message from a friend on Facebook Messenger in September last year. The message contained a link. Shortly afterwards, the friend called him and said, "If you fill in the form provided in the link with your email address, phone number and eSewa or Khalti ID for payment, and deposit Rs2,000, you will start earning money regularly by liking advertisements of the listed products."

Suman, who works as an assistant at a printing press in the district headquarters Chainpur, was tempted by the promise of easy earnings. Following his friend's instructions, he filled out the form of a platform called MPlus. The system required users to depo...