Mumbai senior citizen duped of Rs 8 lakh in 'gift fraud'

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The police on Friday said that a 68-year-old tuition teacher in Mumbai was allegedly cheated of more than Rs 8 lakh by a fraudster who befriended her on Facebook by posing as a pilot with an international airline, reported news agency PTI.

An official said that the Mumbai senior citizen lodged a complaint at Mahim police station on Thursday, reported PTI.

She received a friend request on Facebook from one 'Dev Patel' on May 12, as per her complaint, reported PTI.

She accepted it, and soon the two started chatting on phone with the man claiming that he was a pilot with British Airways, reported PTI.

A few days later, the man told her that he had sent her a gift.

On May 30, the complainant received a call. The Mumbai senior citizen on the other end, who identified herself as 'Dikshita Arora from Delhi Customs', said a parcel had arrived in her name from Dubai but she would have to deposit Rs 70,000 to get it, reported PTI.

The complainant immediately sent Rs 70,000 through UPI. Next she was told that there were 80 British pound sterlings inside the parcel, sent illegally, and she will have to pay another Rs 2.95 lakh or the "crime branch" will arrest her, reported PTI.

Frightened, the Mumbai senior citizen paid multiple times as threats kept coming. Between June 1 to 10, she transferred almost Rs 8.15 lakh before realising that this was a scam, the police official said, reported PTI.

The Facebook friend, who had posed as a pilot, had stopped responding to her calls and messages in the meanwhile.

A case of cheating under IPC section 420 was registered and probe was on, the official said.

(With inputs from PTI)