Online swindlers dupe Faridabad girl of Rs 2.5L

Gurugram, November 3

A 23-year-old Faridabad girl was allegedly duped of Rs 2.5 lakh and kept under ‘digital arrest’ at her home by cyber criminals for 17 days.

The victim has been identified as Ananya Mangala. The victim, who had completed her studies in the field of information technology, had also contributed to the Bharat Mandapam during the G-20 summit in Faridabad.

In her complaint, she said on October 12, she received a call wherein the caller introduced himself as a Lucknow Customs Department officer. The man said that a parcel containing a large number of passports and other cards was being sent to Cambodia. He claimed that the parcel was linked to her Aadhaar number. He then asked her to lodge an FIR on the same day or else she would have to appear in court.

In her complaint, Ananya said, “With the background of a police station, they came online on the Skype app and asked me to join in. There were other men dressed as police officers on the video call. A man in the uniform said he had checked my Aadhar card and claimed that an FIR was already registered against me.”

“He alleged that I was associated to a bank official, who was accused of human trafficking. He also accused me of duping people of around Rs 3.80 crore. Later, a man posing as a CBI officer asked me to pay a sum of Rs 15 lakh. Upon expressing inability to pay the said amount, he said that they were arresting me digitally, ” she added.

She added that they further forced her to remain online on Skype. She transferred Rs 2.5 lakh to the account given by the accused, who also pressurised her to reveal her father’s ATM number.

“Despite consistent efforts for several days, when the accused were unable to take more money, they ended my digital arrest saying that I could log out of my Skype account. After the incident, we informed the police,” she said.

Following the complaint, an FIR was registered under relevant sections of the IT act at the cybercrime police station, NIT, Faridabad on Wednesday. Inspector Naveen Kumar, SHO of cybercrime police station, NIT, Faridabad, said, “This was a different kind of cyber fraud. We are investigating the matter and the accused will be arrested soon.”