Navi Mumbai: Airoli trader loses Rs 4.19 lakh to cyber fraud

The Rabale police have registered a case of cheating against an unidentified person after a trader from Airoli lost Rs 4.19 lakh to a cyber fraudster. The trader transferred money to an account shared by the cyber fraudster while buying raw materials from an Ahmedabad-based company.

According to police, Pramod Bhikanarao Marathe, 54, who has a fabrication business in the Rabale MIDC area and also has an office in Airoli, had ordered raw materials from an Ahmedabad-based company by sending an email on June 16, 2022. On the same day, he received a reply from the company's email account asking him to pay 25 per cent of the total order in advance. The email and also provided invoice proforma and account details. Marathe transferred Rs 4,19,711 to the bank account mentioned in the email after two days. However, on June 23, he again received an email from the company asking to pay 25 per cent of the total order amount in advance.

Marathe then called the company to check the payment status. However, he was shocked to know that the company did not have a bank account mentioned in the earlier email. According to the police, the Ahmedabad-based company did not even have an account in that particular bank.

Realising that he was cheated, Marathe approached the Rabale police and submitted a written complaint to the cyber cell of Navi Mumbai police. Later a case in this regard was registered at the Rabale police station.