A 48-year-old businessman lost ₹2.93 crore after he befriended a woman on a business and employment-focused social media platform who claimed to be based out of the United Kingdom (UK).
The cyber victim who hails from Gottigere in Bengaluru came into contact with a woman who identified herself as Rose George on LinkedIn in 2022. For about six months, he was chatting with her over the phone.
After gaining his trust, she told him that she will be travelling to Bengaluru to meet him. On December 22, 2022, she said she was held in Delhi airport for carrying a ‘British Pound Check’ and was asked to pay ₹20 lakh. Believing the same, he transferred the money. The woman said she was deported from Delhi.
About six months later, on May 8, 2023, he received a fake letter claiming to be from the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The letter said he had to pay ₹16 lakh in relation to the case. From May 8 to June 13, a total of ₹2.93 crore was extorted from him.
The police said he was unaware that he was being duped for nearly six months and learnt about the same when he shared this with one of his friends. He later approached the police station.
The police said that the woman began chatting with the man to lay a trap and she was sitting somewhere in North India and made him believe that she is from the UK. The girl who spoke to him is part of a syndicate who dupe people online, they said.
The fake ED officials were identified as Paul Robinson and Douglas Brain Wyne. All three names are not real names and they work together. The police have approached the bank to freeze the accounts of the accused.
The police said this is a new trend wherein a woman targets men and then traps them to milk money, while men set traps for women. In many cases the modus operandi remains the same. The woman/man says she/he will be travelling to meet and later claims that at the airport a customs officer held her/him. They stop after taking money and if the target continues to believe her/his case was genuine then lay another trap by send fake notices.
An FIR has been registered at SouthEast Cyber Crime, Economic Offences and Narcotics police station.
