What started as a friendly conversation on social media with a woman claiming to give financial advice ended up in a fraud of Rs 50 lakh – a Gurgaon-based doctor has alleged in a police complaint, police said on Sunday.
The doctor works in the surgical oncology department at a hospital in Gurgaon. In his complaint submitted to the Cyber Police Station of South district last month, he said, “A woman befriended me on social media, and she then carried on the conversation on Telegram. After gaining my trust, she said she could offer me advice on gaining maximum return from foreign currency investments.”
“The woman”, the doctor further said, “asked me to try out a website. I invested Rs 40,000 at first and was shown a huge profit after which I was told to withdraw Rs 5,200. Lured by more returns over time, I invested more money and by May, I had increased my investment to Rs 23 lakh.”
“After I paid the amount, I was told by the woman to invest more and I invested more money for which I had to pay a tax of $9,000 for a profit of $30,000.” Over time, the complainant kept paying tax for the amount he had invested, which totaled Rs 50 lakh. This also included the tax amount he had to pay at regular intervals, he told police. The woman had after two months since befriending him, blocked his contact and the complainant is unable to contact her on her mobile phone or WhatsApp, he claimed.
A senior police officer said that a case of cheating under section 420 (cheating) of IPC has been lodged and an investigation is ongoing.
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First uploaded on: 08-07-2024 at 05:56 IST
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