A 29-year-old woman working as an assistant manager with a well-known housing finance company was duped of more than ₹1.33 lakh by a person she met on Tinder, an online social networking application. In her statement to the police, the complainant said that she came into contact with another Tinder member who identified himself as A. Ekam who apparently impersonated to be a gynecologist staying in the United States of America.
During their conversations, the accused expressed his desire of starting a clinic in Mumbai and planned to visit the country shortly. A few days later, the complainant received a call from an unknown woman who claimed to be an officer at the New Delhi airport and informed that Ekam had been detained for carrying 60,000 pounds (around ₹60 Lakh INR) in an unofficial manner.
Woman was asked to transfer money for anti-laundering clearance
In order to avoid action, the woman asked her to transfer ₹68,500 as penalty. The complainant agreed and transferred the amount to the specified account number via immediate payment service (IMPS). She was then asked to transfer another ₹1.24 lakh for anti-money laundering clearance.
This time, the complainant transferred ₹65,000. However, the demands kept on increasing. Finally, Ekam called her and asked to send her money for air-tickets so he could fly to Mumbai. When the complainant refused, the crook blocked her number. Realising she was cheated, the woman registered a complaint with the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police. Further investigations were underway.
Mumbai police cautions citizens
According to Cyber Crime Cell under Crime Branch of Mumbai police , the most common form of online frauds are related to banks, online commerce platforms where fraudsters, posing as bank /platform officials, convince the victim to share OTP, KYC updates and sometimes send the links to be clicked to access bank accounts.“People should know that no bank or institution is authorised to demand for bank details or PIN numbers. Unfortunately, educated people are falling prey to online frauds and losing lakhs of rupees,” explained DCP Cyber Crime , Balsingh Rajput
