'Social media influencer' cheats woman, avails Rs 2 lakh loan in her name

A 28-year-old woman from Vikhroli has been duped by a cyber fraudster, who posed as a social media influencer and availed Rs 2.12 lakh loan in the name of the aggrieved. A case has been filed with the Parksite police.

Impersonating as a social media influencer, the accused induced the aggrieved to share the details of her bank account details and identity cards, and salary statements. Subsequently, he misused the privy details and borrowed money from a mobile loan app.

Quoting the complainant, the police said that the woman came in contact with the accused in May through one of her friends. The imposter, who used a photograph of a social media influencer on his WhatsApp DP, told the woman that he makes reels on social media.

During one of his conversations with the woman's friend, the fraudster claimed that there has been a strike on his bank account... normally strikes are done on the social media accounts of users mostly due to copyright issues, however, the fraudster made some fictitious claims of strike on his bank account due to which he could not get money credited in his account

In this manner, the woman's friend introduced the complainant to the accused, who convinced her to help him. The woman then shared her PAN, Aadhar, salary slips and bank statement details with the fraudster. The accused also told her that she would get an OTP for account verification and asked to share the same. The woman followed his instructions.

On June 29 and later on July 7, the complainant received a total Rs 2.12 lakh in her bank account in two separate transactions. She verified with the fraudster, if the said money belonged to him. As the fraudster replied in positive, she then transferred the money in a bank account provided by the fraudster.

Later when the loan company issued EMI reminders, the complainant learnt that the fraudster had misused her documents to take loans from a mobile loan app, and cheated her. She then approached the police and got a complaint lodged in the matter on Tuesday.

The police have registered a case on charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating by personation, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, identity theft and cheating by personation by using computer resources.

Published on: Thursday, August 25, 2022, 10:29 PM IST