‘Gift from London’ proves to be costly as Vizag woman finds herself duped by online fraudsters of ₹20 lakh

A woman living in Pedagantyada was in for a rude shock after she realised that a man she had befriended online and had grown close to had duped her of ₹20 lakh, according to a complaint that the woman lodged with the police

A woman living in Pedagantyada was in for a rude shock after she realised that a man she had befriended online and had grown close to had duped her of ₹20 lakh, according to a complaint that the woman lodged with the police.

Cybercrime police said the woman had befriended a man online who introduced himself as Mike Paul Spencer, a doctor based in London. The duo chatted on social media in the beginning, and later exchanged phone numbers. In November 2022, ‘Mike’ told the woman that he would be sending her a Christmas gift all the way from London.

A few days later, the woman received a call from a person claiming to be an ‘international airport customer service officer’, who told her that a parcel addressed to her had arrived from London, and that to claim possession of it, she needed to pay a processing fee of ₹27,500. The woman then called up Mike, who told her that it was he who sent the gift and that she would have to pay the processing fee to claim it.

Believing Mike, the woman transferred the money to the account of who she thought was the ‘customer service officer’. Later, she again received calls asking for increasingly bigger amounts, citing charges such as customs clearance, air tax, etc. The woman reportedly paid a total of ₹20 lakh before she finally came to terms with the realisation that she had been conned.

It was then that the woman lodged a complaint with the cybercrime police, who registered a case and formed teams to arrest the miscreants.

A team led by Cybercrime Inspector K. Bhavani Prasad left for New Delhi on May 21 after receiving a tip-off in the case, and arrested three persons identified as Arun Kumar Jha, 48, Chandan Kumar, 26, from Uttam Nagar, New Delhi, and Rohit Kumar, 32, from South West Delhi.