Gurugram woman duped of Rs 1.8 crore by Nigerian ‘friend’

PTI, May 30, 2023, 5:16 PM IST

Two Nigerian nationals were arrested for allegedly swindling a woman for Rs 1.80 crore on several pretexts after befriending her through Instagram, police here on Tuesday said. According to police, the victim was a local woman who reported the matter on April 10 at Manesar Police Station. In her complaint, the woman said she was cheated of 1.80 crore by a man who she had met on Instagram last year. The man had introduced himself as a British Airways pilot, she told police.

“The accused talked to me regularly. One day last year he said he was sending a gift parcel for me which contained an iPhone, jewellery, and other items. Later, on December 6, a man called me saying a parcel had arrived in my name and I have to pay Rs 35,000 in tax to get it,” the woman said in her complaint, according to police.

The victim deposited the money in a bank account shared by the man, but was kept being asked for more money by his so called friend, who demanded it in name of different fees such as ‘United national anti terrorist clearance’ or some penalty, police said. By the time she realised it was a fraud, she had paid Rs 1.80 crore to the man, police said After her complaint, a team of Cyber Crime investigated the matter and arrested two men from Delhi’s Nihal Vihar Phase-2 area on Monday.