Vasai: Cyber crooks dupe student by offering free laptop

A 22-year-old college student from Vasai was duped of more than Rs. 39,000 by cyber crooks under the guise of offering a free laptop.

In her statement to the police, the complainant said that she received a call from a person who claimed to be an executive of a reputed e-commerce portal on Tuesday.

The caller said that she was the winner of an expensive laptop in the promotional lucky draw held by the portal.

Explaining the claim process, the caller asked the youth to make a purchase of Rs. 5000 from the portal for eligibility and transfer Rs. 11,999 towards GST payment for the laptop.

Convinced by the offer, the complainant complied, but the caller claimed that owing to a technical glitch, he would have to pay another 12,009 and 14,999 which would be refunded back into his account in a few minutes.

However, neither did the complaint get a refund nor was the caller reachable. Realizing she was duped, a complaint was registered at the Vasai police station.

The police filed an FIR under the relevant sections of the IPC and Information Technology Act against the accused. Further investigations were under way.