Pune artist duped of ₹80k in cyber fraud

The artist from the Parvati Paytha area in Pune received an email from a woman who wished to commission a painting in May 2020. The woman sent a photograph for reference for the painting that she wished to commission and later duped him. A case is registered at a cyber police station

PUNE A 54-year-old artist was duped for ₹80,000 by a person who offered work to him through social media.

A 54-year-old artist was duped for ₹80,000 by a person who offered work to him through social media in a cyber fraud case. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The artist from the Parvati Paytha area received an email from a woman who wished to commission a painting in May 2020. The woman sent a photograph for reference for the painting that she wished to commission.

The woman then sent a photo of a cheque from a local cooperative bank and told the complainant that the physical copy is on its way to him. The cheque in the photo was made out to the complainant and was for a transfer of ₹1,28,500, according to the police.

The complainant later received a call from a man who claimed to be a customs department official and told him that the cheque was stuck at customs clearance.

The accused man then allegedly asked the complainant to make multiple online transactions in order to get clearance for the cheque. The artist claims to have paid a total of ₹80,000 before realising that he was being duped, according to the police.

A case under Sections 419 (personation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code along with relevant sections of the Information Technology Act was registered at the cyber police station.