Facebook ‘friend’ cheats Bengaluru woman of Rs 3.5 lakh
Bengaluru: Befriending a stranger on Facebook proved costly for a woman, as the ‘friend’ turned out to be a conman who fleeced her of Rs 3.5 lakh. Spinning a story about Customs officials seizing gifts and British currency he sent her via courier, the Facebook friend coaxed her to transfer money his bank accounts.
According to a complaint filed by Savitha Ojuga, a resident of Vibhutipura, with the HAL police, a person, one Bryan John, befriended her on Facebook. Over chats, John told her that he would send her gifts from the UK. Savitha refused to take any gifts from him, but John convinced her saying that he had sent gifts via courier. On November 19, Savitha got a call from a woman who introduced herself as the courier. The woman told her that Customs officials had seized the gifts as charges of Rs 38,500 were due, and sent her account details.
Savitha transferred the money. Next day, the woman again called Savitha and told her that Customs officials had found 45,000 pounds, for which charges of Rs 90,000 had to be paid. Later, Savitha was also asked to pay Rs 2.14 lakh to convert the pounds into INR.
The next day, she again got a call asking for Rs 14,900 more. Smelling a rat, she contacted John, who didn’t respond. Savitha then approached the police. An investigating officer said, “A case of cheating and impersonation has been taken against her Facebook friend and the courier woman. We are making efforts to trace the miscreants.”