A 76-year-old man was duped of Rs 4.8 lakh by a foreigner woman who he had befriended online. The accused identified herself as Edith, a British national, and was acquainted with the complainant saying that she had got his number from a dating website. After gaining his trust, she feigned a visit to India and said she had been nabbed on purported pretexts at the airport, thereby inducing the man to transfer money into different bank accounts to get her released.

According to the Ambernath police, the complainant is a resident of Kohajgaon. In April this year, the woman established contact with the complainant. On May 24, the man received a phone call from her about being apprehended at the airport owing to some issue with her documents. After paying for her release, he waited at the airport for hours but she didn’t turn up.

The police said the complainant paid for the woman’s release on his way to the airport. He later tried calling all the numbers from where he received calls but found them switched off.

A case of cheating and common intention under the sections of the Indian Penal Code was registered on Wednesday.