Tata Hospital doctor duped of ₹8.13 lakh by fraudsters

Doctor from Tata Hospital cheated of ₹8.13 lakh by fraudsters posing as Customs & RBI officials after befriending a woman on social media. Case registered with Bhoiwada police.

MUMBAI: A 40-year-old doctor from Tata Hospital, Parel, was cheated of ₹8.13 lakh by fraudsters posing as Customs and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials. The Bhoiwada police have registered a case based on the doctor’s complaint.

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According to the police, the doctor received a friend request from a woman on social media in early May. After accepting the request, the woman claimed to be working with the American Army and stationed in Ukraine.

On May 11, the woman informed the doctor that she was sending him a gift containing approximately 2,825 US dollars, which would arrive on May 13.

“Subsequently, he received a call from a woman posing as a customs official at Mumbai Airport, who asked him to deposit ₹37,500 to receive his parcel. Later, he was asked to pay ₹87,500 as a money laundering clearance charge. She then informed him that the parcel would be sent to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the US dollars to be converted into Indian currency and deposited into his bank account,” said a police officer.

Following this, the doctor received an email from an address resembling the RBI’s, asking him to deposit ₹1.88 lakh as a currency exchange charge and an additional ₹5 lakh as a transfer cost.

“They kept asking him to pay more, claiming each time it was the last charge, and that he had already paid so much that if he didn’t pay now, all his money would be lost. The woman, posing as a US Army officer, also assured him that the parcel contained a lot of money, which would solve his problems once received,” the police officer added.

Finally, when the fraudsters demanded ₹10 lakh, the doctor realized he had been cheated and approached the police.