Cybercriminals allegedly duped a girl of Cuttack city of nearly Rs 8 lakh by promising to send her costly gifts. The matter came to the fore after the victim of Bidanasi filed a complaint with the Cyber police in this connection on Thursday.
The girl had received a friendly request on Instagram from a youth named Ahmad Daniel in July. Ahmad even shared some of his pictures, claiming that he was a native of Scotland and working in London as a ship manager. The duo then started chatting frequently.
After interacting for nearly a week, Ahmad managed to gain the girl’s trust and asked for her picture and permanent address on the pretext of sending some gifts for her to India.
He sent pictures and video of the gifts which included gold chain, bracelet, shoes, bag and 20,000 US dollars. Ahmad then shared the details of a courier service and said she would have to pay Rs 50,000 towards delivery charges. After that, Ahmad started talking to her by posing as the courier agent.
After a few days, the girl received a call where she was told that the gifts have arrived but have been seized by the Customs Department at the airport and that a certain amount of money would have to be paid for the release of the items.
She made a payment of `60,000 in the first phase but when she was asked to pay larger amounts to the tune of lakhs in phases without receiving the items, she grew suspicious and reported the matter to police.
Police said in eight transactions, an amount of Rs 7.95 lakh was transferred to four accounts with Indian Bank and Canara Bank. The girl was an orphan and made the payments from family savings.
It is suspected the incident is the handiwork of Jamtara or Nigerian gangs. Police have registered a case and began investigations.