According to the police, Vijay Kumar had befriended a woman claiming to be from the UK only to be conned without even meeting her.
A man was allegedly duped of Rs 1.6 lakh by an unidentified woman who befriended him on social networking site Facebook while posing as a UK national. The man, identified as Vikas Kumar, is a resident of Amrapali Sapphire, a high-rise in Noida’s Sector 45.
According to the police, Vikas Kumar works in an MNC. “A few months back, Kumar had received a friend request from a woman identifying herself as Sara Williams on Facebook. Soon they exchanged mobile numbers and started talking,” police said.
On February 5, the woman told Kumar that she is coming to India to meet him on February 13 so that they can celebrate Valentine’s Day together. To win his trust, she even shared her flight tickets with Kumar on WhatsApp.
Kumar received a call from her on February 12. The woman told him that she has been detained by customs officer at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai over some visa trouble. She told Kumar that she needs money to get out of the situation.
She told Kumar that she has around 50,000 pounds with her (equivalent to about Rs 4.6 lakh) but the officers are asking her to pay in Indian currency or make a bank transfer.
Kumar believed her and transferred Rs 1.6 lakh in total in two different accounts. After this, the woman switched off her mobile and never contacted Vikas again.
Kumar soon realized that he has been conned and contacted the police.
Uday Pratap Singh, SHO of Sector 39 police station, said that on the basis of his complaint, the police has lodged an FIR against an unknown person under the IPC Section of 420 (cheating).
