A 50-year-old businessman from Thane never would have imagined that speaking to a executive claiming to be from an insurance company would hurt him emotionally and financially as well. The woman who claimed to be providing an insurance policy, sweet-talked the victim in a love relationship and duped him to the tune of Rs 17.92 lakh.
According to the Shivaji Nagar police in Thane, the complainant, who is a resident of Ambernath, in his complaint has stated that in 2019, he had received a phone call from a woman who identified herself as Sapna Singh, claiming to be calling on behalf of an insurance company. Singh then induced the victim to pay for the insurance policy and told him that he would get good returns.
"The complainant further stated that Singh used to regularly call him and they got into a love relationship. Singh and her accomplices had induced the victim to pay Rs 12.92 lakh in different bank accounts on the pretext of getting him a profitable policy issued and Singh had also induced the victim to buy her Rs 5 lakh worth of jewellery," said a police officer.
He added, "In 2020, when the lockdown was imposed and the victim was in dire need of money, he contacted Singh and her accomplices to get his money back, but they kept avoiding him. After repeated efforts, when the victim did not get his money back, he realised that he had been duped and he lodged a complaint with the police."
The police have registered a case under sections 34 (common intention), 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code and section 66D (punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.
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