Social media ‘friend’ dupes 58-yr-old man of Rs 34 lakh in Pune

The accused committed the online fraud with the help of a fake customs official

A man from Thergaon was duped of Rs 34 lakh by a woman he met on social networking site. The accused committed the online fraud with the help of a fake customs official. The incident took place between November 7, 2019, and November 25, 2019.

A man from Thergaon was duped of Rs 34 lakh by a woman he met on social networking site. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The complaint was lodged by Dattatray Madhav Shinde, 58, a resident of the Green Society in Thergaon.

The woman, identified as Holly Nancy, befriended Shinde on a social networking site. Posing as a British national, she told the complainant that she is coming to India carrying foreign currency and wants to transfer 1 lakh pound to his bank account.

Another woman who identified herself as Sangeeta Sharma contacted the complainant posing as a customs officer. The complainant paid Rs 34,01,459 lakh through multiple transactions between November 7, 2019 and November 25, 2019, according to the police. The callers cited ‘processing fee’ as the reason for transactions.

A case under Sections 419 (personation), 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with Sections 66(c), 66(d) of Information Technology Act was registered at Wakad police station.

Assistant inspector Pawar of Wakad police station is investigating the case.