66-year-old from Gurugram duped of ₹9 lakh by ‘Facebook friend from America’

A 66-year-old man was allegedly duped of ₹9 lakh by a fraudster who posed as an executive of a pharma company from the US. The suspect had befriended the victim on Facebook, and then conned him over a period of six months on the pretext of giving him an employment opportunity.

A 66-year-old man was allegedly duped of ₹9 lakh by a fraudster who posed as an executive of a pharmaceutical company from the United States of America, police said. The suspect had befriended the victim on Facebook, and then conned him over a period of six months on the pretext of giving him an employment opportunity.

According to police, the victim, Mohanlal Sharma who retired as sales manager of a Gurugram-based private firm, was contacted by one Belick Fernanadz from the US over Facebook in May 2018. (Picture for representation)

According to police, the victim, Mohanlal Sharma who retired as sales manager of a Gurugram-based private firm, was contacted by one Belick Fernanadz from the US over Facebook in May 2018.

Police said the suspect sent Sharma a message saying that he worked for a pharmaceutical company in the US and his company was looking for someone to supply and purchase medicines in India on their behalf.

Ombir Singh, assistant sub-inspector, who is the investigating officer in the case, said the victim was told that he would profit from the opportunity and he was asked to get in touch with a supplier of medicines, who allegedly told him to deposit ₹9 lakh in different bank accounts over six months.

Sharma said that he was told over email to receive an order of 400 packets of a particular medicine on behalf of the company. “He (the accused) gave me the contact details of a supplier from whom I could obtain the packets in India, and I transferred ₹9 lakh to the bank accounts of the supplier in multiple transactions. I never met any of the accused and transferred the money to them online,” Sharma said.

By December 2018, Sharma realised that he has been conned and filed a police complaint. Sharma said that he received 15 packets, each weighing around 50 gm, of a brown leafy substance. “I do not know what it is,” he said.

An FIR was registered on Monday at Cyber Police Station under section 420 (cheating) of IPC and section 66D of the IT Act. “The first number from which he got a call is from the US and it was operated from outside the country. The suppliers to whom he had given the money are from Mumbai and Delhi. We are trying to nab them,” the ASI said.