Flat owner in Pune duped of ₹1.38 lakh in online fraud

He lodged a complaint with the Lohegaon police station on September 2 about the incident that took place on January 5, 2022

A cyber fraudster posing as a prospective tenant duped a flat owner in Vimannagar of ₹1.38 lakh.

The FIR states that the accused made a WhatsApp call on the victim’s number and told him that she was from the Army and would make an advance payment and sent a GPay request link to the victim. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

He lodged a complaint with the Lohegaon police station on September 2 about the incident that took place on January 5, 2022.

According to the police, the 29-year-old complainant had released an online advertisement seeking tenants for his flat.

The FIR states that the accused made a WhatsApp call on the victim’s number and told him that she was from the Army and would make an advance payment and sent a GPay request link to the victim.

The victim accepted the link and found that ₹1.38 lakh has been deducted from his account. He later submitted all the evidence to the cyber police and filed application seeking investigation into the case.

The initial application was moved to the cyber cell of the city police which carried out a detailed forensic investigation into the case and forwarded the report to the police station after which the complaint was lodged.

Based on the information, the police have identified the accused as Mallika Ujjwal Barman, a resident of West Bengal, and two of her associates in connection with the cyber fraud.

Cyber police station incharge Dagdu Hake a case has been filed under the Information Technology (IT) Act and IPC Act.