Mumbai, February 3: In a shocking incident a 42-year-old man was duped of Rs 40 lakhs by a woman who posed as a foreign national on social media. According to a Mumbai Mirror report, the victim in his complaint said that he received a friend request from a woman who identified herself as Ella Basil in October 2019. They soon started chatting and talking over the phone. They soon decided to meet in person and the woman decided to come down to India.

The following day, he received a call from a woman posing a customs official informing that Ella was travelling with valuables including ornaments, laptops and other costly items, and asked him to pay Rs 46,000 as a fee for her release. The man paid the amount in a state of panic. The following day again he received a call from the customs department informing him that Ella had a Rs 1.8 crore demand draft in his name. Mumbai Cyber Fraud: Woman Cheated of Rs 40,000 While Trying to Sell Used Electronic Items on an Online Classified App.

Even though he could sense that something was amiss, but he continued to fall in the trap and paid Rs 40 lakh to the fraudster. On realising that he was duped, he went and filed a police complaint. There has been a tremendous increase in similar frauds taking place, where middle-aged men are targeted and forced to transfer money under several pretexts.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 03, 2020 03:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).