Facebook ‘friend’ cheats Mumbai nurse of Rs 17.5 lakh in cyber fraud

The alleged doctor lured the victim under the pretext of sending her expensive gifts and jewelleries worth Rs 49 lakh, and made her pay Rs 17.5 lakh for clearance of the gift parcel at the airport thus defrauding her.

A nurse working in a civic hospital in Malad lost Rs 17.5 lakh to a cyber fraud group who befriended her on Facebook with one of them posing as a doctor from London. The alleged doctor lured the victim under the pretext of sending her expensive gifts and jewellery worth Rs 49 lakh, and made her pay Rs 17.5 lakh for clearance of the gift parcel at the airport thus defrauding her, said the police.

According to the Malad police, in March the complainant received a friend request on Facebook from Alex Wilfred, whose profile portrayed him as a doctor from London. The complainant accepted the request and started chatting with him after he shared his phone number. (Photo @MumbaiPolice)

According to the Malad police, in March the complainant received a friend request on Facebook from Alex Wilfred, whose profile portrayed him as a doctor from London. The complainant accepted the request and started chatting with him after he shared his phone number. Since August 15, the two started chatting frequently.

On August 17, Wilfred called her and informed her that he had sent her a surprise gift. After an hour, she received a call from a female, posing as a cargo official, named Anjali Sharma who said she is posted at the Delhi’s Indira Gandhi international airport.

Sharma told the complainant that a parcel has come in her name and it contains Rs 35 lakh cash and gold jewellery worth Rs 14 lakh. But, to get the parcel cleared she will have to pay Rs 30,000 courier charges. She then shared bank account details with the complainant.

On August 27, the fraudster sent her an email showing it to be from the RBI and made her pay more money under the name of some code which is mandatory to claim the parcel coming from abroad. After the complainant paid the money, she again received another email supposedly from RBI which again requested her to make another payment to get mandatory tax code, the complaint states.

This time the complainant didn’t make any payment as she had exhausted all her savings. She had also borrowed money from friends and relatives. “She yelled at Wilfred and told her to return whatever money she has spent. Wilfred told her not to worry as he would be coming to India with money on August 31 and will return all her money. He also sent her photos of his air tickets and photos of himself sitting in the flight,” a police officer said.

On August 31, the complainant received a WhatsApp call from Wilfred informing her that he has been arrested at the Delhi international airport as he was carrying a huge quantity of cash. He requested her to help him get released by paying a penalty charge of Rs 5.40 lakh.

The complainant sensed something was amiss and made a video call to him. But he didn’t receive the video calls. The complainant realised that she was duped by fraudsters after Wilfred cut all his contacts with her. But by then the complainant had already lost Rs 17.5 lakh, said the police officer. On Friday, she registered a complaint against the fraudster at the Malad police station.

The Malad police have registered an FIR against Wilfred, Sharma and others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and section 66c and 66d of the Information Technology Act.

“The fraudsters used multiple bank accounts in New Delhi, Mizoram, Darjeeling and West Bengal, and it clearly indicates the involvement of a highly professional gang whose members are spread all over the country. The modus-operandi points out the involvement of Nigerian cyber fraud gangs who involve Indians in their teams offering them hefty money,” said the officer.

Details of fraudster’s phone numbers, bank accounts are being analysed to find the whereabouts of the fraudster, added the officer.