FB friend dupes bank manager of ₹10.7 lakh

MUMBAI: Adding to the growing number of cases wherein victims are conned by setting a honeytrap, a 54-year-old manager of a nationalised bank was duped of ₹10.7

MUMBAI: Adding to the growing number of cases wherein victims are conned by setting a honeytrap, a 54-year-old manager of a nationalised bank was duped of ₹10.7 lakh in the first week of July using the same modus operandi by a gang that has been active in the city for a long time.

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Mulund police officials said the accused — a woman — befriended the victim on Facebook and later conned him on the pretext of seeking help to clear Customs fine. One of the officers said the woman has been identified Asha Kumar, who befriended the victim on the social networking site on June 16. The two exchanged phone numbers following a few chats.

THE BLING THEORY

One of the officers said, “During one of their conversations, Kumar told the manager that she owns a jewellery shop in Chicago and wishes to open another one in India for which she needed his help.” Later, she informed the victim that she would soon be visiting Mumbai to meet him and finalise the details of her new shop. A few days later, the manger received a call on July 6 from a man claiming to be a Customs officer from Delhi. The victim was told that Kumar has been detained at the Delhi Airport for possessing ₹3 crore and will have to pay hefty fine for it.

“In two days — July 6 and 7 — the manager deposited ₹10.7 lakhs in five different bank accounts,” the officer added.

The conmen kept calling the victim until the said amount was deposited in the accounts following which they never contacted them. It was here that the manager smelled a rat and realised that he had been conned, following which he approached the Mulund police last week and registered a case against Kumar, Arjun Pawar, Ashok Sharma, Ajay Singh and AK Chavan.

Based on his complaint, all five accused were booked under Sections 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention) and 170 (personating a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66 (D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.