A woman, who works with an automobile company in the city, was allegedly duped of ₹13.72 lakh by a man she met on a matrimonial website. The police said the man claimed to be working abroad and said he wanted to come to India to meet her for which he required financial assistance since he was carrying foreign currency. With the help of his aide, who posed as a customs official, the suspect asked her to transfer the money online in multiple transactions after a few days of chatting with her, the police said.
In the past three weeks, this is the fourth case of its kind to be registered in the city, where residents have been duped by people they met on matrimonial websites. In almost all the cases reported, the accused introduced themselves as “working abroad” and said they wanted to visit India either for courtship or to set up business. Next, an aide of the main accused calls from a local number posing as a customs official from the airport. The victim is told that their ‘friend’ has been detained for carrying foreign currency and money needs to be transferred for their release. In one such case, a Nigerian national was arrested from DLF 5 for cheating a woman through a matrimonial website.
In the case registered on Monday, the woman stated in her complaint that she got acquainted with the accused through a matrimonial website on May 28 and started chatting on WhatsApp thereafter. “A week later, he told me that he had applied for a month’s leave to come to India to meet me, but requested money to arrange for flight tickets. Two days later, he said he needed to deposit money for handling work in his absence. He said he would be arriving in Mumbai from Istanbul on June 10. The same day, I got a call from a customs official asking me to deposit money as he was carrying a cheque of $500,000,” she told the police.
{{/usCountry}}In the case registered on Monday, the woman stated in her complaint that she got acquainted with the accused through a matrimonial website on May 28 and started chatting on WhatsApp thereafter. “A week later, he told me that he had applied for a month’s leave to come to India to meet me, but requested money to arrange for flight tickets. Two days later, he said he needed to deposit money for handling work in his absence. He said he would be arriving in Mumbai from Istanbul on June 10. The same day, I got a call from a customs official asking me to deposit money as he was carrying a cheque of $500,000,” she told the police.
{{/usCountry}}The police said she was asked to pay another installment for an anti-drug/terrorist clearance form for her friend to be released. A police officer privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said the woman realised that she had been duped after the man stopped responding to her phone calls. “The accused person is yet to be arrested,” the officer said.
The police said a complaint was filed on June 19 and on Monday, after investigation, a case was registered under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66 D of the Information Technology Act at the Cyber Crime police station.
Stay updated with all the Breaking News and Latest News from Mumbai. Click here for comprehensive coverage of top Cities including Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and more across India along with Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News.
Stay updated with all the Breaking News and Latest News from Mumbai. Click here for comprehensive coverage of top Cities including Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and more across India along with Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News.