Chandigarh woman loses ₹3 lakh to conman posing as her cousin

In her complaint, the victim stated that she had received WhatsApp messages from a number bearing her cousin’s picture asking for money.

A Sector 22 resident was duped of ₹3 lakh by a conman who posed as her cousin staying in London and sent her messages on WhatsApp asking for financial help, police said.

The victim had deposited Rs 3 lakh over a span of five hours in three different bank accounts. (Representative image)

In her complaint, the victim, Sabina, said she had received WhatsApp messages from a number bearing her cousin’s picture asking for money, but the number was not her cousin’s.

The complainant stated that the accused had first asked about her wellbeing and then demanded Rs 3 lakh for his family with an assurance that she will get it back soon. The victim had deposited the money over a span of five hours in three different bank accounts.

After the transactions were complete, the victim received a message saying “it was a scam, you can earn more money.” It was then that Sabina realised that she had lost money to online fraudsters.

The victim lodged a complaint at Sector 22 police post and the cyber cell. Police are trying to get details of the accounts in which the money was transferred.

A case under Sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Sector 17 police station.