Man posing as pilot dupes Gurugram woman of ₹2 crore
According to the woman, a resident of Sector 86, in December 2022, she received a friend request from ‘AlexWilli285’ who asked for her personal contact number. The person posed as a pilot associated with an international airline, and asked her to pay ₹ 35,000 before sending her a package meant for her
A 61-year-old Gurugram woman was duped of at least ₹2 crore allegedly by a man, whom she befriended on social media, on the pretext of sending her expensive gifts and foreign currency, police said on Tuesday.
An FIR has been registered at cyber crime police station, Manesar, under Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act against unidentified people, said police.
According to the woman, who chose to remain anonymous, a resident of Sector 86, in December 2022, she received a friend request from ‘AlexWilli285’ who asked for her personal contact number. The person posed as a pilot associated with an international airline, and asked her to pay ₹ 35,000 before sending her a package meant for her.
Over the days, she transferred ₹2 crore in about 10 transactions of varying amounts.
“The user approached me saying that he is a pilot and works for an International airline. On December 5, he said he had a surprise package with gift items like iPhone, artificial jewellery, watch and other accessories. He said that the package, coming from Dubai, also contained cash for me and asked for my address and phone number and that he would send it to me if I paid ₹ 35,000. I paid the amount and then I got a call from another person, who posed as an official from the airport authority, and said that I have to pay a penalty of ₹1 lakh. The accused asked me to follow the instruction, and pay the penalty, and promised that I will get my money back. I was forced to transfer ₹95,000. He then again asked me to pay another ₹2 lakh for a certificate required to exchange currency from USD to INR, which I transferred, she said.
On December 9, she alleged that she got an SMS from another number claiming to be United Nations Anti-Terrorist Department, asking her to pay for a clearance form.
She further alleged that she received at least 100 calls from different agencies which threatened her to transfer the amounts, forcing her to take a personal loan, and another against her jewellery in December.
“I trusted them to give back my remaining amount like they promised but I was forced to take a loan against all my jewellery from a private finance company and scammers forced me to transfer that loan amount as well. I was also forced to transfer another ₹35 lakh from my business current account and ₹50 lakh as well as I received from sale of a plot in Tirupati. I also borrowed ₹24.5 lakh from my six relatives,” she said.
Police said that the victim also withdrew money from her joint bank account, which alerted her son, following which the cyber fraud was unearthed.
“We are regularly receiving similar complaints and we have been spreading awareness on social media platforms. People trust strangers and fall prey to their modus operandi,” said assistant commissioner of police (cyber) Priyanshu Diwan .
Following a complaint lodged by the woman, an FIR was registered against unidentified fraudster under sections 419 (cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating) of IPC and section 66-D of IT act, said police
Diwan said they are verifying their IP addresses based on which raids will be conducted.
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