London woman, promise of pounds: Man loses Rs 1.27 lakh in scam via Facebook
A Gwalior contractor was allegedly cheated of Rs 1.27 lakh after befriending a woman on Facebook who claimed to be from London. The fraud surfaced when repeated demands for airport clearance and processing charges led him to complain to the cybercrime helpline.
A man in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, was allegedly duped of Rs 1.27 lakh after falling victim to a cyber fraud involving a fake Facebook profile of a woman claiming to be from London, police said. The victim, identified as Kamalkant Yadav, works as a contractor and reportedly came in contact with the scamsters through Facebook on April 24 after accepting a friend request from an account named “Lucy Charles”.
According to police, the woman gradually befriended Yadav and later shifted the conversation to WhatsApp using the name “Dr Patricia R Medicine”. During their chats, she claimed to be a London resident planning to visit India.
She allegedly told the contractor that she would be bringing 95,000 British pounds to India and needed help converting the amount into Indian currency. Believing he could earn a hefty commission through the currency exchange, Yadav continued interacting with her.
On April 27, Yadav received a call from another woman who introduced herself as an employee at Mumbai airport. She told him that a foreign currency parcel had arrived in his name and needed to be cleared after payment of registration charges. The fraudsters then extracted money from him under various pretexts, including registration, clearance and processing fees.
Police said Yadav first transferred Rs 38,500 as registration charges. Later, another Rs 88,600 was allegedly taken from him through multiple transactions, taking the total amount to around Rs 1.27 lakh.
The contractor reportedly realised he had been cheated only after the accused demanded another Rs 70,000. He then lodged a complaint on the cybercrime helpline number 1930, following which Madhya Pradesh Police registered an e-zero FIR for cheating under provisions of the IT Act against unidentified accused.
Jhansi Road police station in-charge Shakti Singh Yadav said an investigation into the cyber fraud case has been initiated.
A man in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, was allegedly duped of Rs 1.27 lakh after falling victim to a cyber fraud involving a fake Facebook profile of a woman claiming to be from London, police said. The victim, identified as Kamalkant Yadav, works as a contractor and reportedly came in contact with the scamsters through Facebook on April 24 after accepting a friend request from an account named “Lucy Charles”.
According to police, the woman gradually befriended Yadav and later shifted the conversation to WhatsApp using the name “Dr Patricia R Medicine”. During their chats, she claimed to be a London resident planning to visit India.
She allegedly told the contractor that she would be bringing 95,000 British pounds to India and needed help converting the amount into Indian currency. Believing he could earn a hefty commission through the currency exchange, Yadav continued interacting with her.
On April 27, Yadav received a call from another woman who introduced herself as an employee at Mumbai airport. She told him that a foreign currency parcel had arrived in his name and needed to be cleared after payment of registration charges. The fraudsters then extracted money from him under various pretexts, including registration, clearance and processing fees.
Police said Yadav first transferred Rs 38,500 as registration charges. Later, another Rs 88,600 was allegedly taken from him through multiple transactions, taking the total amount to around Rs 1.27 lakh.
The contractor reportedly realised he had been cheated only after the accused demanded another Rs 70,000. He then lodged a complaint on the cybercrime helpline number 1930, following which Madhya Pradesh Police registered an e-zero FIR for cheating under provisions of the IT Act against unidentified accused.
Jhansi Road police station in-charge Shakti Singh Yadav said an investigation into the cyber fraud case has been initiated.
