Email scam: Senior citizen from Mumbai pays ‘customs fees’ to claim prize, loses ₹9.2 lakh

The 70-year-old Mahim resident transferred money in instalments to the sender of the email to claim her prize of £40,000.

A 70-year-old woman from Mahim lost Rs9.2 lakh to a cyber fraud after she received an email which claimed that she had won a prize worth 40,000 pounds. Renu Prem Tajveja registered a case with the police last week. She received the anonymous email in February 2016, said the police.

The Mahim resident registered a case with the police last week.

Between February and March, she transferred money to the sender of the email toward “custom fees” to claim her prize.

Senior police inspector Milind Idekar said they would take help of the cyber cell in the investigation.

The police are trying to trace the unidentified person by tracking the bank account which received the money.

An FIR has been registered under section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the IPC, and sections 66C (identity theft) and 66D (impersonation using a computer resource) of the IT (Information Technology) Act.

Similar cases have been reported in the recent past, wherein groups operating overseas send bulk emails. The recipients of the email are told to make a payment in order to reclaim their ‘lottery prize’ or to pay ‘custom duties’ for the clearance of gifts and rewards.