Bengaluru woman, 39, cheated of ₹6 lakh by online ‘boyfriend’: Report

In another case of cyber crime, a 39-year-old woman from Bengaluru lost ₹6 lakh after she sent money to supposedly receive gifts from her online ‘boyfriend’.

According to The Indian Express, the woman met a man named Philip Daniel on Instagram and eventually fell in love with him. He claimed to be the director of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection and informed her on September 18 that he had bought her expensive bags and watches as gifts.

On September 20, the woman received a call from someone claiming to be from immigration, who demanded a tax payment of ₹36,000 for the gifts supposedly sent from the UK. Trusting the caller, she promptly transferred the amount online. However, she was later informed that she needed to pay an additional ₹10 lakh due to the value of the gifts, the report added.

(Also Read: Karnataka govt launches new cyber security policy amid frequent scams)

In her complaint, the woman stated that she spoke with multiple individuals who claimed to represent immigration, customs, and excise departments, ultimately leading her to pay a total of ₹6 lakh to the fraudsters.

The Indian Express report further reported that a case has been registered in Bengaluru’s Whitefield CEN police station under Sections 66(d) (cheating by personation), 66(c) (identity theft) of the Information Technology Act, as well as Sections 318(4) (deceiving any person) and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

(Also Read: Bengaluru man loses ₹59 lakh in elaborate fake online courtroom scam: Report)

Recently, a 59-year-old Bengaluru man, K J Rao, was scammed out of as much as ₹59 lakh by criminals who staged an elaborate fake online courtroom trial. Rao, who works as the head of litigation at a multinational company, became a victim of the fraud between September 12 and 13.