53-yr-old duped of Rs 13 L by prospective groom

A 53-year-old unmarried woman from Gamdevi area of South Mumbai was lured into a customs duty fraud and duped of Rs 12.71 lakh by her prospective groom whom she met on Facebook (FB) a few days ago.

After being cheating, the woman approached the Gamdevi police and has registered her complaint; however, no arrest has been made so far, police officials said.

According to the police, in the month of May the woman received a friend request from one Magan Kelvin. Looking at his profile photo, the woman thought that he was a pilot and accepted his request. Both then shared numbers and began chatting. Both then shared photographs and everytime Kelvin sent his photographs in a pilot’s uniform to gain her trust. A few days later, Kelvin proposed her for marriage and she agreed to it, police said.

According to her statement, Kelvin told her that he will be sending her a gift from London on her birthday on June 1. The woman initially denied but after much insistence she agreed.

In the first week on June, the woman received a call from one Jayanti Verma who claimed to be calling from the customs office in Delhi and told her about her gift sent by Kelvin. Verma told her that she needed to pay Rs 37,850 as a charge to dispatch gift from Delhi to Mumbai.

After paying the amount, Verma called her and said that, after scanning it has been found that there is some money in her gift and customs clearance needs to be paid for it. After consulting with Kelvin, the woman paid Rs 1.75 lakh. A few days later, Verma again called her and made her to pay another Rs 5.35 lakh as a money conversion charges and later another Rs 2 lakh on the pretext of conversion taxes. During this whole time Kelvin was after the victim to follow Verma's instructions.

After paying Rs 12.71 lakh Verma again called the victim and told her to pay for some certificates, this is when the victim started to doubt both Kelvin and Verma. When the woman consulted with her family members she realised her mistake and stopped further conversation and registered a complaint.