Developer duped of Rs 47 lakh by social media friend

PUNE: A city-based real estate developer was duped of Rs 47 lakh by a woman he had met on a popular social networking website.

The woman, who claimed to be based in the US, tricked him by promising to gift him gold ornaments. She also said she had many contacts in the real estate sector in the US.

The real estate developer transferred money to her account after she informed him that she had been ‘caught’ along with gold ornaments by the central customs officials at the Delhi International Airport. Though the incident took place in August, the 59-year-old real estate developer from Shankarsheth Road, near Swargate, lodged a complaint with the Swargate Police Station on Friday after realising that he had been duped by the woman and her three accomplices.

According to the FIR, the real estate developer received a friend request on a social networking site. The businessman accepted the request and started chatting with her, police said. While interacting with the businessman, the woman said that she knew many bigwigs in the United States who deal in real estate, said inspector M R Pandit.

The complaint stated that the woman urged him to invest in the US market, especially in the real estate sector. She claimed that he would earn good profit on his investment in the US. “They kept on discussing these issues for long and during these chats they exchanged their cell phone numbers,” Pandit said.

The woman in the first week of August told him that she had bought a costly gift for him, police said. She also informed him that she would come to India on August 6,” he said. She then claimed that she had arrived at the Delhi International Airport. “The businessman later received calls from three-four men, who spoke in Hindi, claiming that they were customs officials,” Pandit said.

“They told him that they have apprehended the woman for bringing gold ornaments illegally. They then started demanding money from the businessman. In order to get the woman and the jewellery ‘released’, the businessman paid a ‘bribe’ of Rs 47 lakh. He transferred money to the accounts of the suspects using internet banking facilities,” he said.