An 18-year-old girl from Nepal was duped of Rs 1.5 lakh by a man under the pretext of helping her rent an apartment in south Mumbai.
According to the Indian Express, on August 21, the 18-year-old girl registered a cheating case at Santacruz police station. Santacruz police are now on the lookout for the alleged fraudster who posed as a real estate agent to dupe the Nepalese national. The girl shifted to Mumbai from Kathmandu in July after getting admission in a south Mumbai-based college. She was staying with her relatives in Santacruz while looking for a place to rent somewhere close to her college in south Mumbai.
The cops have said that she then got in touch with a man who posed as a real estate agent. An officer told the leading daily, “When she called him, the fraudster asked her to text him on WhatsApp. He shared photos of a few flats in Marine lines with her.” After shortlisting an apartment, the teenager went to see the building, when a watchman posted there informed her that rent for a flat in the building was around Rs 2 lakh.
Then, she called the agent who told her that Rs 2 lakh is the deposit for the flat, while the rent was Rs 50,000. The 18-year-old girl transferred Rs 20,000 as advance money on July 25. Later, the fraudster made a fake agreement and sent it to her. The girl later called her grandfather, who then transferred Rs 1.30 lakh into the bank account which was given by the fraudster.
But, even after giving him the money, the fraudster did not hand over the flat keys, he kept on postponing saying that the flat is under renovation. After August 5, he switched off his phone. Later, when the girl visited the flat in Marine Drive, she realised that she was duped and approached the police.
