In Pune, fake army man swindles eatery staffer of Rs 56,000

PUNE: A fraudster duped an eatery employee of over Rs56,000 under the garb of an army officer on the pretext of selling the latter cheap furniture between July 19 and 20.
The 28-year-old man from Vadgaon Sheri registered a complaint with the cybercrime police on Monday. The employee contacted the fraudster via an advertisement of cheap furniture and gadgets on social media. The fraudster sent him fake photo copies of his identity claiming he was an army officer. He then struck a deal to purchase furniture for Rs35,000.
The suspect induced him to pay varying amounts towards GST, security tax and duped him of over Rs56,000. A police officer said, “The complainant used his e-wallet to transfer money into fraudster’s two e-wallets based out of West Bengal and Odisha. The fraudster then switched off his cellphones. He later contacted the complainant and asked for more money to seek refund.”
After the complainant failed to get delivery of furniture, he realized he was tricked and filed a complaint application with cyber police. Offences under relevant sections of IPC and Motor Vehicles Act were registered.