‘NRI, customs officer’ dupe senior citizen of Rs 9.5 lakh in Mumbai
Between October and November, the woman impersonating a customs officer made the complainant transfer a total of Rs 9.5 lakh on the pretext of clearing the documents, converting the USD 5 lakh to Indian rupees, opening a bank account to transfer the money, and for due taxes.
Dahisar police have registered a case against two women cyber-fraudsters for cheating a 66-year-old man of Rs 9.5 lakh after befriending him on Facebook.
According to the complainant, in September 2018, one of the fraudsters posed as a non-resident Indian (NRI) from New York who wanted to buy property in India worth crores.
She sent the man, who works as a public relations officer (PRO) at a petroleum company, a friend request on Facebook and they later exchanged numbers and started chatting on WhatsApp.
In October 2018, she told the complainant that she was looking to buy a property in India worth ?6 crore and said she would pay him a commission to find her a good deal. She said she would travel to India for the same.
According to the police, in mid-October, the man received a phone call from a woman posing as an Indian customs officer who told him that an NRI woman had been detained at the airport for not having the correct travel documents and for carrying 5 lakh US dollars with her.
The alleged customs officer said that the detained passenger had given his reference and hence, the call was made to him.
Between October and November, the woman impersonating a customs officer made the complainant transfer a total of Rs 9.5 lakh on the pretext of clearing the documents, converting the USD 5 lakh to Indian rupees, opening a bank account to transfer the money, and for due taxes.
After paying the entire amount, the man tried calling the customs officer, but her phone was switched off.
According to police, in the interim period, the complainant went to visit his sons in the UK.
Earlier this year, after he returned from his visit, he tried to contact the NRI woman but her phone was switched off as well.
Realising he had been duped, he approached the Dahisar police on March 13 and a first information report (FIR) was lodged against the two unknown women.
