Panchkula: A woman from Janoli village near Pinjore lost almost ₹7 lakh to a cyber fraudster who befriended her on Instagram, posed as a “brother” from the United Kingdom, and tricked her through a fake parcel clearance scheme.In a police report filed at the Panchkula cybercrime police station on Oct 23, the complainant, Dulari Devi, said an Instagram user with the handle “aman.jatt764” had contacted her on Oct 14. The user claimed to be running a business in the UK and planning to visit India.Devi told police the user claimed on Oct 19 to have bought gift items for her and requested her address to send a courier parcel. The following morning, she received a WhatsApp call from an accomplice claiming to have arrived at the Mumbai airport with the delivery, demanding ₹25,000 in courier fees.After she paid him, the callers requested additional money, claiming the parcel contained expensive items subject to customs duty. They later told her customs officers had detained the parcel and required larger payments for its release.Devi was repeatedly persuaded to transfer money to multiple bank accounts via UPI and other electronic payment methods. To convince her, the callers sent messages and videos claiming to represent customs officials and police agencies.She became suspicious after continuous demands for money yielded no delivery. She reported the incident to the cybercrime helpline on Oct 22, stating her total losses reached almost ₹7 lakh.Panchkula police registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita covering charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust, forgery, and criminal conspiracy. Authorities have not yet identified the suspects, and the investigation remains ongoing.
