Woman duped of ₹2.79 lakh by man who befriended her on social networkign website

A woman in Sector 31 was allegedly duped of ₹2.79 lakh by a man whom she had befriended on a social media website, police said Monday. Police said the suspect, who

A woman in Sector 31 was allegedly duped of ₹2.79 lakh by a man whom she had befriended on a social media website, police said Monday. Police said the suspect, who claimed to be settled in the United Kingdom, had extorted money from the woman by

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promising a potential relationship.

According to police, the woman, a dance teacher, received a friend request from the man on a social networking website in July last year. After a week of chatting online, the man allegedly told her that he would be sending her some gifts, including jewellery and over 3,000 Pounds. A day after the accused man told the woman about the gifts, the woman received a phone call from a person claiming to be a representative of a parcel company, who said she would have to pay to claim the parcel or it would be confiscated, police said.

“I paid some amount, but did not receive the parcel. I was then told to deposit more money for clearance of the parcel and money laundering charges,” she stated in the FIR. Police said the woman deposited ₹2.79 lakh in three transactions of ₹1.85 lakh, ₹75,000 and ₹19,000. After the suspect asked for more money, she got suspicious and called the police.

A police officer privy to the investigation, requesting anonymity, said the woman’s social media friend, meanwhile, stopped answering her calls. “As per the modus operandi in such cases, the suspects lure victims by claiming that they are settled abroad and were sending gifts. They then assume the identity of either customs officials or courier company representatives to scare the victim into paying money,” the police officer said.

A case was registered against the suspects, who are yet to be identified, under sections 379 (theft) and 420 (cheating) of Indian Penal Code at Sector 40 police station on Sunday.

On February 17, a 30-year-old woman was allegedly duped of ₹2.5 lakh by a man she had met on a matrimonial website. The man had expressed his intention to marry her and cheated her after concocting a false story about being in financial difficulty.