Woman duped of ₹3L by social media ‘friend’, 2 others

NOIDA: A 30-year-old woman was allegedly duped by three persons, including a London-based woman she became friends with through social media, of nearly ₹3 lakh.

Police said the complainant, Kamini, is a resident of Sector 122. She alleged she and a Londonbased woman, Mary Janson, became friends some time ago on a social media platform. “The woman started texting me on Whatsapp. She claimed to be a gold distributor in London... She said she was planning to come to India for business. I told her even I was interested in pursuing my own business, to which she suggested we work together. She then said she had bought a watch and phone for me which she was sending to India,” she alleged.

She added Mary allegedly gave her a web-link to track the courier. “A few days later, I got a call from a Mr Morgan, who claimed to be from the customs department at the IGI airport who asked me to pay an amount of Rs 32,500 as airport charge, which I paid. Then another woman called and asked me to pay the insurance charge. Then Morgan called again asking me to pay the customs fee. I paid them nearly ₹3 lakh under various charges,” alleged Kamini.

She became suspicious when the suspect allegedly asked her to pay another ₹5.6 lakh as income tax. Based on her complaint, a case was registered against three suspects under IPC sections 420 and 406. “A probe in the matter is underway. We will first verify the accounts and trace the IP addresses, after which due legal action will be taken,” said Devendra Singh, SHO, Phase 3 police station.