Tamil Nadu Man Duped of Rs 9.5 Lakh by Unknown ‘Facebook Friend’ On Pretext of Gifting Gold Ornaments
Reports inform that the victim has been identified as Saravanan, a Pollachi-based man. According to a report by TOI, the man was cheated by the fraudster of Rs 9.5 lakh using a fake Facebook account in the name of Sarah Backy from the United Kingdom.
Chennai, July 16: A case of online fraud has been reported from Tamil Nadu where a man was duped of nearly Rs 9.5 lakh by an unknown person, who was allegedly his 'Facebook friend'. Reports inform that the victim has been identified as Saravanan, a Pollachi-based man. According to a report by TOI, the man was cheated by the fraudster of Rs 9.5 lakh using a fake Facebook account in the name of Sarah Backy from the United Kingdom.
As soon as the incident came to light, the rural cybercrime police registered an FIR against an unidentified person. As per details by Police, Saravanan befriended Sarah Backy through Facebook. The duo exchanged their mobile numbers and chatted with each other on WhatsApp. Uttar Pradesh Woman Duped of Rs 2 Lakh by Online Friend on Pretext of Sex Reassignment Surgery.
In June, Backy told Saravanan that she wanted to gift him 20,000 pounds worth of gold ornaments. The woman allegedly told the man that he would have pay Rs 9.5 lakh in Indian currency as excise duty to get the gold ornaments. Soon after, the man received a phone call from an unknown person who introduced himself as an excise department officer. The unknown person asked the victim to deposit Rs 9.5 lakh in a bank account as excise duty for the gold ornaments.
Saravanan believed the fraudster and deposited the amount. However, he neither received any gift. The man realised that he was duped of the whopping amount after he couldn't conatct Sarah Backy. The man then found out that it was a fake Facebook account used by an unidentified person in the name of Sarah Backy.
The victim then lodged a complaint with the cybercrime police station at the district police officer (DPO) on SBI road on Thursday. The cops registered an FIR against the unidentified person under Section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal code and Section 66 D (whoever by means or any communication device or computer resource cheats by personating) of the Information Technology Act.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 16, 2021 05:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).