Woman loses Rs 11.2m to fraudsters who promised her UK gift

Cheating

A case has been registered against unknown persons for cheating a woman from Alibag in Maharashtra's Raigad district of Rs 11.2 million, a police official said on Saturday. The woman, a retired court superintendent, accepted a friend request in June this year from a person claiming to be a resident of Manchester in the United Kingdom, he said. “He and some other accused soon started phoning her claiming there was a gift in gold and cash that had been sent for her from the UK, but she would need to pay Customs duty. On this pretext, they made her transfer Rs 11.2 million, after which the accused stopped all communication,” he said. A case of cheating, criminal breach of trust and conspiracy has been registered and efforts were on to nab the accused, the Alibag police station official added.