Posting her future plans and ambitions on social media proved costly for a doctor at a famous South Mumbai hospital. The doctor had posted on her Instagram account that she wished to visit London to pursue further studies. A fraudster, who claimed to be working as a captain in a shipping firm in London, contacted her to help her realise her dreams and send gifts from London. In the process, the victim landed up being duped of Rs 9.63 lakh.
According to the VP Road police, the complainant is a resident of Byculla. The victim wanted to pursue further studies in London and had also applied for a visa. She was also saving money to achieve her dreams. In her statement, she said that she had posted about her plans to visit London for further studies on Instagram. On July 31, while the victim was at work, she received a message from one David Lucas. She replied to the text the next day.
"The victim and Lucas then began chatting and the latter told her that he was working as a captain in a shipping firm in London. The victim told Lucas that she wanted to visit London to pursue further studies and was arranging money for the same. Lucas, on various occasions, asked the victim to share her bank account details so that he could send money to achieve her dreams, but the victim refused," said a police officer.
On August 2, Lucas told the victim that he sent a surprise gift for her. The next day, the victim received a phone call from a woman who claimed to be a customs officer. The officer told her that a gift had arrived for her and that she would have to pay Rs 60,000 as customs charges. Lucas later informed the victim over a phone call that the gift parcel contained 25,000 pounds and expensive bags. The victim then agreed to pay the money.
Later, the accused woman told the victim that, since the parcel contained foreign currency, she would have to face a money laundering enquiry as well. On different occasions, she induced the victim to pay a total of Rs 9.63 lakh in different bank accounts. "However, when the demand for money continued, the victim demanded for related documents and bills of the money she had paid to the woman. When she did not receive any response, she realised that she had been duped," the officer said.
The victim then lodged a police complaint, on Thursday, under sections 34 (common intention) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 66C (punishment for identity theft) and 66D (punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resources) of the Information Technology Act."
