Mumbai woman duped of INR 4.29 lakhs by a man claiming to be UK resident on Instagram

In a recent case of cybercrime, a 32-year-old woman became the latest victim of an online gift scam.

According to an FIR registered at Andheri Police Station, a man impersonating as a UK resident employed on a merchant ship (Prime Cargo Shipping) befriended the victim from Andheri on social media and cheated her of INR 4.29 lakhs.

In the complaint, the woman mentioned that she had received a follow request on her Instagram profile from a man who claimed to be from London. She exchanged phone numbers with him and started chatting with him.

The victim, residing in Mumbai's Andheri (East) area, had paid a whopping amount to collect the gift that claimed to have got stuck at the Delhi airport customs.

On July 27, the fraudster, who was using an international number, told her that he sent her some gifts through cargo shipping and even showed her pictures of the items. He also gave her a link to track its delivery.

A few days later, on July 29, she received a phone call from a person who claimed to be an official of the customs department.

During the conversation, the victim was told that the gift parcel has a lot of cash in it and she would have to pay charges for procuring an anti-money laundering certificate. Moreover, she was also warned of getting into trouble if she didn’t pay for the gift box that contained undeclared valuables.

A police officer said the complainant first transferred INR 1,18,118 and INR 3,19,000 from another account and another INR 50,000 and INR 60,114 respectively.

She realised being duped when the next day, a woman impersonating an income tax officer called her demanding INR 5.69 lakhs as taxes on the gift parcel.

The complainant refused to give any money and asked her to prove her identity. The fraudster cut the call and the complainant realized she had been duped.

“I was against sending the gift. But the person claimed that he has already sent the gift parcel and asked me to pay 1500 US dollars as fees to collect it,” she was quoted by TOI.

The case was registered on August 2 against unknown persons for impersonation, cheating and forgery.

Andheri police probing the case is tracking down the caller, reports stated. Police said the complainant lost the savings that she has saved from her salary.