Man duped of Rs 3.5 lakh for ‘ambassador’s car’ by fraudster posing as embassy official in Delhi

After initially transferring the money, the victim got suspicious and contacted the embassy’s landline number, and found that he had been conned.

A man was allegedly cheated of Rs 3.5 lakh by a man who claimed to be selling an SUV that had been ‘used’ by an ambassador of a country posted in India, the police said.

Building of Police Commissionerate and Haryana State Cyber Crime Branch, in Gurugram. An FIR was registered at the Cyber Crime police station in Gurugram in the case of a man being duped of Rs 3.5 lakh in a fake car deal. (HT File)

On July 29, the victim, a businessman who lives DLF Phase 2, saw an advertisement on a website that claimed a Toyota Fortuner SUV used by the ambassador of an embassy in Delhi was up for sale.

“I called the given number, but the person disconnected, and later sent me a message. I informed him that I was interested in buying the car,” the victim said.

The fraudster allegedly told him that as per the embassy’s rules, a potential buyer has to submit 10% of the total amount as advance before buying a car. “I transferred the amount to an account number they had sent me. He even sent me a receipt for the advance, which was printed on the embassy letterhead.

After transferring the money, the victim got suspicious and contacted the embassy’s landline number, and found that he had been conned. “They told me not to transfer any more money and said that others had been conned in a similar way,” the victim said.

The victim filed a police complaint and also informed banks, after which he was able to recover about Rs 1.5 lakh. When asked, an embassy official denied to comment on the case.

An FIR was registered at the Cyber Crime police station in Gurugram Saturday under sections 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code, and sections of the Information Technology Act.

A police officer privy to the matter confirmed that the FIR had been filed and that Anand Kumar, station house officer of Cyber Crime police station (Gurugram), was investigating the case. Kumar, however, did not respond to multiple calls.