Mumbai: Three people including two Nigerian citizens have been arrested in separate cases for allegedly deceiving people after making friends with social media and promised to send ‘gifts’, Mumbai police said on Wednesday.
A recent city resident approached the cyber police station from the crime branch with a complaint that he was cheating on Rs 18 Lakh, said an official.
Someone who was friends with a complainant on Facebook told him that he had sent him 40,000 euros from Australia and the complainant had to raise money from Delhi airport by paying customs, the official said.
Then someone called him, and identified himself as a Facebook friend who had sent a gift, told the complainant that he spoke from Delhi.
The complainant must deposit money as customs, income tax and ‘exchange of currency costs’ in various bank accounts, he said.
The complainant saves at least Rs 18.80 lakh in various accounts.
When 40,000 Euro promised never arrived, he realized that he had been cheated, police official said.
The cyber police registered a violation under the IPC 420 section (cheating) and the relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act and arresting Hamed Sora National Nigeria alias Eric Chris (28) and his colleague Rubini Gusepharan (24) from Delhi earlier this week.
In other cases where a person was deceived by Rs 2.75 lakh using the same method, the cyber police arrested Godwin Jonathan Ejje (34), a citizen of Nigeria, from the National Capital, the official said.
Around Rs 8 Lakh in cash was found from the defendant in the first case while 13 cellphones, 15 SIM cards and seven ATM cards recovered in the second Fir, he said, adding that further investigation was ongoing.