Chandigarh banker duped of ₹1.06 lakh in online fraud

The victim said she received a message on Facebook from a woman, identifying herself as an NRI, who said she wanted to come to India for donations

A Sector-42 resident was duped of ₹1.06 lakh by a person who approached her through Facebook.

Through two transactions, the victim deposited ₹86,000 and ₹1.48 lakh, but soon after, she could not contact any of the numbers that she got calls from. Suspecting fraud, she managed to reverse the payment of ₹1.28 lakh, but ended up losing ₹1.06 lakh. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The victim, Netram Meena, who works for a public sector bank in Sector 8, said she received a message over Facebook from a woman, identifying herself as Stella, an NRI.

In the message, Stella expressed her desire to come to India for donations and Meena offered to help her. Stella shared her air ticket to arrive in India on May 19, 2021.

After a few days, she got a call from Stella, claiming that she was stopped by the customs department at the airport as she was carrying a huge sum of money.

Meena got another call from a woman, identifying herself as a customs officer, who sought a deposit of ₹2.34 lakh to let Stella leave.

Through two transactions, Meena deposited ₹86,000 and ₹1.48 lakh, but soon after, she could not contact any of the numbers that she got calls from. Suspecting fraud, Meena managed to reverse the payment of ₹1.28 lakh, but ended up losing ₹1.06 lakh.

Following the complaint, police have registered a case under Sections 419, 420 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code at the Sector 36 police station.