Woman loses ₹4.33 lakh to free Apple gadget fraud

A woman in Mumbai was cheated out of ₹4.33 lakh by fraudsters who promised her Apple products, including the yet-to-be-released iPhone 14.

MUMBAI: When this woman contacted a ‘Dubai-based electronic firm’, little did she know that it would result in her being cheated to the tune of ₹4.33 lakh by fraudsters, who promised her Apple products, including iPhone 14, MacBook and watch.

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According to the police, the victim, Ruksana Ansari, 30, a resident of Ganesh Murti Nagar in Cuffe Parade, and her 12-year-old son were surfing the internet when they saw an advertisement on social media, announcing that Zam Zam Electronics from Dubai was going to distribute 1,000 phones in India.

“The mother-son duo contacted the number given on the advertisement and received a recorded voice message, stating that they have won an iPhone14, a MacBook and an Apple watch. They were given one contact number and asked to follow the instructions,” a police officer said.

The woman accordingly dialled the number and she was asked to pay ₹6,000 initially towards taxes, as the valuables were to come from Dubai, the police said. “Later, she was asked to pay for Customs duty and courier charges, and the woman ended up paying a total sum of ₹4.33 lakh to the frauds in various transactions in the first week of August,” the officer added.

However, when the frauds started demanding more money, she got suspicious and on scrutiny noticed that the courier employee whose photo was sent to her and the person who chatted with her on video call was the same. This time, she refused to pay and insisted that the frauds should either refund the amounts taken from her or send her the gifts.

“When she discussed the matter with her neighbour, the woman was told that she had been deceived,” the police said. Ansari then approached the Cuffe Parade police.

A case under sections 420 (cheating) and 419 (cheating by personation) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000 was booked against the unknown accused.