‘Woman’ Facebook friend dupes Pune businessman of Rs 38.5 lakhs

Pune, May 18, 2020: A 48-year-old real-estate developer has complained with Pune city police alleging that his woman friend from United States of America (USA), whom he had met on social media Facebook, has duped him of Rs 38.5 lakhs. The ‘woman’ had sought his help in getting rare oil which was required for developing vaccine at a laboratory in the USA’s California.

Based on complaint from the builder, who is a resident of Mukundnagar, Swaragte police station registered an FIR on Saturday against the accused woman Anju Daga based on Facebook profile. She had lured him by saying that she is associated with a lab which is developing a vaccine and need ‘Decco oil’ which is very rare. She asked him to get  it from India where it is found and that he will earn good money in the business. And then for various pretexts, she gave him eight bank accounts to transfer money required for different purposes. The complainant deposited Rs 38.5 lakhs before realizing the cheating.

According to police, he had befriended her in the month February this year. They used to chat and he had revealed information about losses in his business due to Coronavirus outbreak lockdown. When she told him that will earn handsome money in the oil business, he could not refuse. After realizing the cheating, he complained with the Pune cyber police station which has been registered as FIR with Swargate police station.

Police have booked the accused for offences under sections 419 (impersonation), 420 (cheating), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act. The cops are investigating the case further and said that the accused is male or female will be learnt after probing the matter thoroughly.