Cyber fraud: Lucknow man duped of ₹1.38cr by Sikkim man

According to the police, the accused called the victim over the phone and introduced himself as a customs officer.

In a case of cyber fraud, a Sikkim man based out of Delhi posed as a custom duty officer and then as a Polish national and duped a Lucknow man of ₹1.38 crore.

For representation only (HT File Photo)

“The accused Oathnail Rai, 27, a permanent resident of Sikkim and living in Munirka area of Delhi, was held by the Madiaon police on Tuesday after the victim, Naveen Singh Samuel, resident of Madiaon lodged a complaint with the cyber cell at the Madiaon police station in Lucknow. An FIR under IPC 406 (criminal breach), and 420 (cheating) was lodged and police nabbed the accused with the help of online surveillance, who has since been sent to jail,” said the police.

The incident took place on August 4, 2022, a police press note read. According to it, Rai called the victim over the phone and introduced himself as John Spence, a customs officer, and informed him that the victim had received a gift of one million pounds as well as gold and valuables.

The accused then contacted the victim, calling from a different number, claiming to be Dr. Felix Warsaw, a native of Poland, who had sent him the gift because he was overwhelmed by the victim’s religious videos on YouTube.

“The ‘customer officer’ then demanded money from the victim in the form of non-inspection costs, taxes, anti-money laundering fees, and late fees, among other things. The accused then urged the victim to deposit the money into other bank accounts, which the victim did. After that the man stopped responding. Realising that he had been duped, he filed a police complaint with Madiaon police station,” the press note read.

In the police interrogation, the man said that he had been living in Delhi for a few years and worked as a hotelier, where he met a few foreigners and decided to dupe people through the social media with his friends. “I used to contact and find people on social media and after proper research used to target them,” he admitted to the police.