A 44-year-old woman resident of Noida was duped of nearly ₹1.26 crore by a man claiming to be a United Kingdom national on a matrimonial site between July 2023 and December 2024, said senior officers on Thursday, adding that a case of fraud was registered at the cybercrime branch police station on Wednesday.
The woman, who did not wish to be identified, resides with her family at a high-rise in Sector 119 in Noida and works at an IT company.
Police said the woman said that in July 2023 she came in contact with a man on a matrimonial website and he claimed to be a widower with two children.He told her that he was a resident of Scotland in the United Kingdom.
“We connected and he established a great bond with my children and my mom in a short span. Later, he travelled to Colombo in Sri Lanka on a project and he claimed that he lost all his documents and bank cards while in that city. He told me he had to freeze his account in the UK and had no money with him,” she said in her complaint.
“On the pretext of an angioplasty, the man made the woman transfer him ₹80 lakh claiming that all his bank accounts were freezed,” said a police officer, asking not to be named.
He said the woman did not doubt him as he promised to return her double the money when he came to India.
Subsequently, in December 2024, the suspect informed the woman that he was coming to India with his two children. “The woman then received another message from the suspect that customs officials had stopped him with two million pounds. If she did not help him, he would be booked on charges of money laundering. On that pretext, he again siphoned off a huge sum from her. In total, she was duped of ₹1.26 crore in multiple transactions.” said Ranjeet Singh, station house officer, cybercrime branch.
“When the suspect broke off all contact with the woman, she realized that she had fallen into a trap. Later, she filed a complaint, and after inquiry, a case under sections 318(4) (cheating) and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and IT Act was registered on Wednesday. A probe revealed that all the money was transferred to Indian bank accounts. Efforts are underway to nab him,” the SHO said.