Bombay high court clerk duped of Rs48,000 on pretext of GST

A 38-year-old Bombay high court clerk was allegedly cheated of Rs48,000 by a man she met on a matrimonial website who told her to pay the sum as Goods and Services Tax (GST).

According to the police, the woman, a divorcee, befriended one Vivek Patel through a matrimonial site in the second week of June.

Patel claimed to be a resident of London and an employee of a shipping company.

An officer from Azad Maidan police station, requesting anonymity said, “The two became close friends and even started video-calling each other. In the last week of June, Patel said he was sending her some ornaments as a gift.”

According to the police, on July 18 she got a phone call from a person who said he was a courier boy.

The person said there was a parcel for her and she had to pay a certain amount as GST and customs duty.

The investigating officers suspect Patel and the courier boy are the same person, who telephoned the women from different numbers.

The officer said, “The woman got a call from a courier boy who said that in order to get the parcel, she would have to pay Rs 48,000 as customs duty and GST. The victim was even asked to mail her Aadhaar card as a proof of her identity.”

According to the police, Deepa then deposited the amount in an account given to her by the courier boy. Later, when she consulted her friends, she learnt that she had been cheated. A case was registered with the Azad Maidan police station on Wednesday.

Senior police inspector Vijay Kadam said, “We have got both the numbers and are trying to trace them.”

The case was registered under sections 419 (punishment for cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code along with sections 66 (C) and 66 (D) of
the Information Technology Act.