FPJ Cyber Secure: Instagram 'Friend' From UK Dupes Woman Of ₹36 Lakh In Mira Road

A 40-year-old woman became the latest target of cyber-crime after she lost over ₹36 lakh to a fraudster who posed as a pilot living in England and befriended her on popular social networking platform-Instagram. 

In her statement to the police, the Mira Road complainant stated that she received a follower request from a person who claimed to be a pilot working in England. She responded positively to the request and soon both exchanged mobile numbers and frequently chatted on instant messaging apps.

A web of lies and deception

Despite her reluctance, the man offered his assistance in alleviating her financial burden which she was facing to buy a property. The man asked her to send an email to a specified id along with her bank account details. Soon she received a reply on her email which was tagged with a link. Upon clicking the link, she was directed to a page containing details of funds amounting more than ₹5.67 crore which had been deposited by the man to transfer in her account.  However, what seemed to be a gesture of help turned out to be a web of lies and deception.

Initially she was directed to deposit ₹35,000 as transfer fees. In the series of ensuing emails, she was told to deposit more money under various pretexts. The complainant ended up paying ₹36,36,900 to various bank accounts within a span of less than four months. However, when the demands continued and the “pilot” also started giving evasive replies, the woman realised she had been duped and registered a complaint at the local police station on Friday. 

An offence under the relevant sections of the IPC and Information Technology Act-2008 has been registered against the cyber-crooks. Further investigations were underway.