A 21-year-old Kalbadevi resident was duped to the tune of Rs 63,000 on the pretext of buying a second hand scooter on social media platform Facebook's marketplace. The youth had found a scooter up for sale at just Rs 20,000 and contacted the seller. However, he was duped in the name of paying delivery and transport charges, only to realise later that he was a victim of cyber fraud. A case has been lodged at LT Marg police station and investigation is underway.
The youth, a south Mumbai resident, was surfing the social media on Facebook and ended up on the Facebook's marketplace. While surfing, he stumbled upon an interesting deal of a second hand scooter up for grabs at Rs 20,000 only. The complainant immediately contacted the number given and spoke to him about the vehicle at length.
The youth then received a call from another number to discuss the vehicle's sale, where he asked the seller to send the scooter's photographs for verification. The seller sent him photos of a white Honda Activa (MH-14-GM-8293), which the latter liked. During further discussion, when the 21-year-old enquired about the delivery, the seller sought documents of the buyer, following which he sent the account number one Kailash to wire the money. After verification, Kailash sent the transport papers and said that the two-wheeler would reach the complainant in a week.
Accordingly, on August 4, the complainant received a call from a transport personnel who asked him to make a series of payment under the pretext of transport charges amounting to Rs 63,645, which would be later refunded by the seller. Subsequently, the 21-year-old made the payments, only to lay in wait for the vehicle's delivery till midnight. Having realised that he has been duped, the youth approached the LT Marg Police and lodged a complaint against the unidentified accused.
While investigating the case, police have sought the Call Data Records (CDR) and bank statement to follow the money trail in a bid to nab the accused. Meanwhile, no arrests have been made and neither has the accused been identified.
