Journalist duped of Rs 2.5 lakh by man posing as his friend from England

The incident took place on May 23. (Source: File Photo)

The Mumbai Police are looking for an unidentified person, who allegedly duped a 53-year-old journalist of Rs 2.5 lakh. Police said the fraudster had posed as a friend of the complainant, who is working as a doctor in England, and used his display picture to communicate online.

The incident took place on May 23. The complainant told police that his friend Dr Debashish Bhattacharya was living at Burnley in England with whom he communicated frequently.

According to police, recently, during the course of their conversation, the complainant came to know that his friend was raising funds for the needy affected by the pandemic.

Police said sometime later, the complainant got a WhatsApp message from an unknown number which had the display picture of his friend. In the message, the person, pretending to be Bhattacharya, asked for a loan of Rs 3 lakh that he promised to repay at the earliest, police said.

The complainant, in his statement to police, said as he knew the person since childhood, he asked for his bank account details and transferred Rs 2.5 lakh in five different transactions.

The statement further read that later in the evening on May 24, he said he wanted to return the cash and asked the complainant for his Aadhaar card and PAN card.

Police said the complainant sensed something was amiss, following which he contacted his friend in Burney and realised that he had been duped. He then went to the police station, where he submitted a complaint application.

“Late last week, a case was registered under sections of cheating under the IPC and the IT Act,” said an officer.

Police are trying to ascertain as to how the fraudster got information about his England-based friend.

Investigators have started checking call data records from which the complainant was contacted and the bank account details where the money was transferred.