Police said that the fraudsters had initially asked the student to pay Rs 20,000 as customs charges for claiming the iPhone.A 23-year-old student student was allegedly cheated by online fraudsters of Rs 7.25 lakh under the pretext of winning an iPhone in a lucky draw, police said on Thursday.
According to police, the fraudsters had contacted the student in July and claimed to be employees of one “Muhammad Gazette Limited Company”. The fraudsters had told the student that he had won an iPhone worth Rs 1.5 lakh in a lucky draw and further claimed that their company had ISO certification. They had also forwarded soft copies of their identity cards to the student on his WhatsApp account.
Police said that the fraudsters had initially asked the student to pay Rs 20,000 as customs charges for claiming the iPhone. However, they continued asking him to pay more money under various false pretenses. In total, the student transferred Rs 7.25 lakh to the fraudsters via internet banking and UPI applications such as Google Pay and PhonePe, but never received the iPhone.
After realising that he had been cheated, the student, a resident of Sasane Nagar in Hadapsar, lodged an FIR in this regard at Hadapsar police station. Police have booked the accused under IPC sections 419 (Punishment for cheating by personation) and 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.
Police inspector Raju Adagale said, “The complainant collected money from his friends and other such sources. Investigation in the case is on.”