Cuttack: A young woman from Bidanasi area in Cuttack has been allegedly duped of Rs 7.95 lakh by a cyber fraudster. A complaint in this regard has been lodged at the Cyber Crime Police Station in the Millennium City.
Inspector-In-Charge Chandrika Swain informed that, as per the complaint lodged with the Cyber Police on Thursday, the victim had received a ‘Follow’ request on Instagram from one Daniel in the month of July. She accepted the request and started chatting with the person.
Daniel had identified himself as a native of Scotland and is working as a Ship Manager in London. After chatting for seven to eight days and emotionally trapping the woman on the pretext of marriage, he informed her that he has bought some gifts for her in London and wanted to send them to her in India.
He asked the woman to send her photo and permanent address and claimed that the gift contains a gold chain, bracelet, expensive shoes, a bag, and 20,000 US dollars. Later, he stated that the gift is being sent through a courier service. After which the young woman first got a phone call in the name of the courier company asking to pay some money as charges for receiving the gift. She transferred Rs 50,000 to the account given by the said courier company.
However, instead of receiving the gift, she again received a call from the courier company saying the gift has been seized by the customs department and they have to pay more money to release it. On several pretexts, the cyber fraudsters convinced her to transfer Rs 7.95 lakh to the accounts provided by them.
When no gift arrived, the young woman learned she had been a victim of cyber fraud and lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police. Inspector Swain said that an investigation in this regard has been initiated through cyber experts. The woman had received calls from various locals including outside India. The accounts used in the fraud were found to be located in India.
