Gorakhpur: A Facebook friendship turned costly for a Khajni resident after a woman claiming to be a US national working in Syria allegedly duped him of Rs 15.2 lakh on the pretext of getting her luggage released from Delhi airport.Indralal Jaiswal, a resident of Khoria alias Bhiti village, registered an FIR on Monday evening after realising he had been duped. According to Jaiswal’s complaint, he became friends on Facebook with a woman who introduced herself as Charlotte Olivia and claimed to be a US resident working in Syria. During their conversations, she allegedly told him that she wanted to visit India.The woman later claimed that she had arrived at Delhi airport but officials had detained her luggage and that she urgently needed money to get it released.Believing her claims, Jaiswal transferred Rs 15.2 lakh from his SBI account through YONO to several bank accounts provided by the woman. However, she allegedly continued demanding more money.Jaiswal became suspicious after the repeated requests for further payments and realised that he had fallen victim to a cyber scam. He subsequently filed a complaint on the national cybercrime portal and approached police.Jaiswal told investigators that the WhatsApp numbers linked to the woman displayed the names Charlotte Olivia and Sonam Kumari. He also submitted transaction details and other evidence to police.Inspector Jayant Kumar Singh said an FIR had been registered against an unidentified woman in the name of Charlotte Olivia. The cybercrime cell is examining the transactions and gathering details of the bank accounts allegedly used in the fraud.
