Bengaluru: A Facebook friendship that began with promises of expensive gifts spiralled into one of the city’s most audacious cyber frauds, with a 52-year-old woman losing Rs 1.7 crore.The fraudsters, posing as a foreign friend and customs officials, lured her into believing a parcel containing gold, diamonds, and other valuables had arrived in India. In a chilling twist rarely seen in such scams, the syndicate allegedly went beyond online deception by repeatedly sending different individuals to meet the victim in person and collect huge sums of cash.According to the complaint with north cyber crime police station, Pallavi (name changed), a resident of Yeshwanthpur, was contacted on June 12 on Facebook by a man, identifying himself as Sahil Juggal, who claimed to be an Indian working in the United Kingdom. The woman is separated from her husband, following a marital row.The two exchanged mobile phone numbers and later started chatting on WhatsApp. The complainant then shared details about her personal life.Sahil promised to send her an expensive sari, gold jewellery, gemstones, diamond jewellery, and other costly items, as gifts. He sent her photographs of the parcel, claiming it also contained courier receipts.A few days later, the complainant received a call from a man, Ravi Sharma, who claimed to be a customs officer. He informed her that the parcel had arrived in Delhi, but it would be released after customs charges and other clearance fees were paid. She immediately contacted Sahil, who told her since he did not have Indian currency, he could not get them released. He convinced her to make the payments.The complainant initially transferred Rs 40 lakh through RTGS into various bank accounts provided by the fraudsters. The demands, however, did not stop there. They repeatedly asked her to bring cash to specific locations, where different individuals allegedly collected the money. They informed her that the person collecting the money would be carrying a Rs 10 currency note with a specific serial number, which they shared with her on WhatsApp.A senior officer said the fraudsters used the hawala transaction method to receive money from her. By the time she realised she had been duped, she had allegedly lost Rs 1.7 crore.Based on the complaint, police registered a case under the Information Technology Act and BNS section 318 (cheating). “The fraudster who cheated the victim is said to be in south Bengaluru. Efforts are on to nab him,” said police.
