Mumbai: Instagram 'friend' dupes Andheri woman of Rs 15 lakh

Mumbai: A 24-year-old lab technician has lodged a complaint with the Cyber Police Station saying that she was duped of nearly Rs 15 lakh by an Instagram 'friend'.

According to the police, on April 14, the victim, a resident of Marol in Andheri, had received messages on her Instagram from a person who claimed to be from Florida and currently working as a surgeon in Syria. Soon the victim and her social media friend began chatting regularly with each other. The fraudster told the victim that his savings and jewellery were lying unsafe in Florida and he wanted to send them to her for safe keeping, as he had no relatives in Florida.

On May 5, the fraudster informed the victim that he had sent a parcel containing his savings and jewellery to her. From May 6 till July 17, the victim was induced by the fraudster to send around Rs 15 lakh in different bank accounts in order to claim the parcel. On July 29, the victim was informed by the fraudster that the parcel was with the customs officials and demanded more Rs 10 lakh, after which the victim suspected something amiss and refused to pay further.

Having realised that she had been duped, the victim got a case registered with the police under various sections of the Information Technology Act.