Hyderabad: A software engineer from the city lost Rs 5 lakh to cyber crooks who cheated him after befriending him on a matrimonial portal.

The victim, a resident of Himayatnagar, had registered with a matrimonial portal a month ago. Around 20 days ago, he got a message from one person who introduced to him as Rita, a doctor from San Francisco.

“Both of them started chatting on Facebook and exchanged their mobile phone numbers. During one of the conversations, Rita said she was sending him a gift,” said the Cybercrime police.

“A week ago, he got a call from another person claiming to be a Customs official at the Delhi Airport and asked him to remit a few thousand rupees towards customs duty for the parcel sent from San Francisco. Later on different instances, a few persons called him over phone and collected Rs 5 lakh in different instalments towards various taxes and charges,” the official said.

Realizing that he was duped, the victim approached the Cybercrime police who registered a case and started investigation.

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