A 68-year-old tution teacher here was allegedly cheated of more than ₹8 lakh by a fraudster who befriended her on Facebook by posing as a pilot with an international airline, police said on Friday.
The woman lodged a complaint at Mahim police station on Thursday, said an official. She received a friend request on Facebook from one `Dev Patel’ on May 12, as per her complaint. She accepted it, and soon the two started chatting on phone with the man claiming that he was a pilot with British Airways. A few days later, the man told her that he had sent her a gift.
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On May 30, the complainant received a call. The woman on the other end, who identified herself as `Dikshita Arora from Delhi Customs’, said a parcel had arrived in her name from Dubai but she would have to deposit ₹70,000 to get it.
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The complainant immediately sent ₹70,000 through UPI. Next she was told that there were 80 British pound sterlings inside the parcel, sent illegally, and she will have to pay another ₹2.95 lakh or the “crime branch” will arrest her. Frightened, the woman paid multiple times as threats kept coming. Between June 1 to 10, she transferred almost ₹8.15 lakh before realising that this was a scam, the police official said. The Facebook friend, who had posed as a pilot, had stopped responding to her calls and messages in the meanwhile.
A case of cheating under IPC section 420 was registered and probe was on, the official said.
To shield yourself from online scams, consider the following precautionary steps:
1. Use Trusted Apps: Install reliable apps, such as “Fraud Alert” by CERT-In, “mSafe” by NCSAP, and Google’s “Anti-Phishing App,” to safeguard against scams. These apps provide real-time alerts, security advice, and protection from phishing attacks.
2. Limit Personal Information: Exercise caution when sharing personal details online. Avoid divulging sensitive data like phone numbers, email addresses, and bank account information to unfamiliar sources.
3. Question Unsolicited Requests: Be skeptical of emails and messages requesting personal data, as scammers often use such tactics to steal sensitive information.
4. Source Verified Apps: Download apps exclusively from trusted sources like official app stores and refrain from downloading from third-party platforms.
5. Maintain Software Updates: Regularly update your software to benefit from security patches that guard against malware and other threats.
6. Verify Claims: Disregard offers of free gifts from unknown individuals and avoid making online payments without proper verification of the source.