A man claimed that he ended up losing lakhs of rupees due to a woman he befriended on Facebook. As per reports, the businessman from Gujarat lost a total of ₹95 lakh to a scam.
Parag Desai filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police Station following the scam, reports the Times of India (TOI). He told police he received a "friend request" from a woman on Facebook last year and accepted it. Soon, they shifted to WhatsApp, where they continued their communication.
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As per the outlet, Desai's online friend, a woman named Steff Mhiz, presented a business idea to him. She reportedly told him that her company needed herbal products from India and that Desai should buy those packets, costing ₹1 lakh each, and sell those to Mhiz's company for ₹2 lakhs. When Desai agreed, she asked him to contact an individual called Dr Virendra to procure the products.
Desai got in touch with Dr Virendra through email. After their online communication, he received a sample packet and paid ₹1 lakh. The package arrived on time, but Desai didn't open it. Instead, he placed more orders, reported the outlet.
{{/usCountry}}Desai got in touch with Dr Virendra through email. After their online communication, he received a sample packet and paid ₹1 lakh. The package arrived on time, but Desai didn't open it. Instead, he placed more orders, reported the outlet.
{{/usCountry}}Following this, Desai reportedly kept paying money to Dr Virendra in different accounts, as he instructed. He got suspicious when Virendra kept asking for more money under various pretexts.
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As per TOI, Desai asked Dr Virendra to cancel the deal and return his money when he didn't receive the promised amount. However, Dr Virendra and the woman have been out of reach since.
Finally, when he opened the packets, to his shock, no herbal products were inside them. They were filled with powder and fried chips, reported TOI.
In another incident, a woman in Bengaluru fell prey to scammers when she tried buying eggs from an online platform. She saw an offer to get dozens of eggs at an unbelievably cheap price. However, when she tried purchasing them, she lost nearly ₹48,000.