Two Malaysian tourists duped in Delhi on pretext of exchanging demonetised notes

The fraudsters are using demonetisation as an opportunity to cheat innocent people in the name of exchanging old currency with new banknotes on a commission basis.

Two Malaysian tourists alleged on Wednesday that they were duped of their Indian and foreign currency notes by a west Delhi resident, in the name of demonetisation and cash crunch.

The Malaysians met the Delhi resident through Couch Surfing, an online hospitality service, which provides a platform for its members to stay at the other member’s home as a guest. HT Photo

The tourists accused Rishabh of cheating them on the pretext of exchanging Rs 10,000 in the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations with new banknotes. In the complaint, they also said that the man took away 1,000 US dollars and 200 Malaysian Ringgit from them, apart from fraudulently using their credit cards for paying his bills.

The Malaysians met the Delhi resident through Couch Surfing, an online hospitality service, which provides a platform for its members to stay at the other member’s home as a guest. After landing in Delhi from Malaysia on November 27, they stayed at Rishabh’s Sunder Vihar home near Peeragarhi in west Delhi for the next two days.

“The man, Rishabh, as named in the complaint, duped the tourists, saying exchanging foreign currency notes has become difficult and a time taking process because of demonetisation,” police said.

The fraudsters are using demonetisation as an opportunity to cheat innocent people in the name of exchanging old currency with new banknotes on commission basis, ranging between 10% and 30%, the officer said.

Dependra Pathak, joint commissioner of police (south western range), confirmed that a complaint was filed by one of the Malaysian tourists, identified as Wong Hwa Yo. “The complaint was forwarded to the Mianwali police station and an FIR has been registered. We are looking into the case and all possible assistance will be provided to the tourists,” said Pathak.

According to Wong’s complaint, when they asked Rishabh to return their money, he made them leave home, saying there was an emergency in his family and he had to lock the home and reach his ancestral home.

The two were left with no choice but to stay in a hotel on their own expenses. Rishabh blocked their mobile numbers on his phone so that they could not contact him, the officer said. “Efforts are on to nab Rishabh,” added the officer.

According to Delhi Police records, a total of 113 cases of crimes against foreign nationals were reported in Delhi in 2015. Statistics show that 168 crimes were committed in Delhi by foreign nationals.