`FB friend’ cheats IT professional of ₹54L
An MCom professional in Navi Mumbai was duped of ₹54.05 lakh by a Facebook friend who promised her a job in a foreign country. The accused used various tactics to make the victim transfer the money, including fake money transfer slips and tax payment requests. The police are investigating the case.
Navi Mumbai: An MCom professional with an IT firm from Airoli was duped by a ‘Facebook friend’ whom she befriended to get a better job in a foreign country.
The 38-year-old complainant befriended the accused, who introduced himself as Lucas Ethan, in August this year.
Ethan told her that he worked as a manager in a UK-based oil company, and the complainant introduced herself as an MCom professional who worked as an IT consultant in a multinational company.
On September 1, Ethan contacted her and told her that he was in Indonesia for work but was stranded in the country as his cards got deactivated, and requested immediate money from her. Following this, she transferred him ₹5.50 lakh.
The next day, he shared a money transfer slip with her, which stated that he had shared ₹32.45 lakh into her account. When she asked why the excess amount was transferred, he told her that he was touched by her kindness in helping him when in need.
The next day, a woman named Mary, who said she was from the Delhi branch of Royal Bank of Scotland, informed the complainant that a transfer of ₹32.45 lakh had been initiated into her account and to complete the transfer, she needed to pay ₹3.75 lakh tax.
She contacted Ethan to confirm the tax payment, and he told her to pay the tax, and release the money. Using this modus operandi, Mary made the complainant transfer a total of ₹48.55 lakh on the pretext of transfer code, income tax code, demurrage code, anti-terrorism code, etc., in a series of transactions till October 13.
The complainant raised a personal loan, a gold loan, and a credit card loan to pay these amounts, and yet when the demands did not stop, she suspected that something was fishy. She then visited the Fort branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland with the transfer receipt and learnt that the receipt was fake. She then approached the Cyber police station in Navi Mumbai with a complaint, and an FIR was lodged.
“We are investigating the case and are trying to trace the numbers and bank accounts used in the crime. As of now, all the phone numbers are switched off,” a police officer from Cyber police station said. The complaint states that she was cheated of a total sum of ₹54.05 lakh.
The accused Ethan and Mary, which are most likely to be the fake names, have been booked under sections 420 (cheating), 419 (cheating by personation), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), and 34 (common intention) of the IPC and section 66 D (cheats by personating using a communication device or computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.
Stay updated with all the Breaking News and Latest News from Mumbai. Click here for comprehensive coverage of top Cities including Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and more across India along with Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News.
Stay updated with all the Breaking News and Latest News from Mumbai. Click here for comprehensive coverage of top Cities including Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and more across India along with Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News.