JOIN USIt was virtually love at first byte for a Delhi government woman employee who was duped of Rs 18 lakh by a Facebook lover.
The single woman living in north Delhi is now trying to get her money back which police suspect has been swindled by a gang active in a west-north belt from Janakpuri to Rohini.
It took a few months for her to absorb the shock before she sought help from senior officials in the Delhi government who forwarded it to police.
“We are investigating the matter and there is suspicion of involvement of foreign nationals who are known to use such a modus operandi,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Madhur Verma.
“The gang targets hyper active Facebook using women, who declare their age to be around 40-50 years in their profile,” said an investigator from the Special Staff of the district.
The woman deposited Rs 18 lakh in a SBI account opened in Manipur for a piece of jewellery that was promised to be sent to her with “affection and love” by her Facebook, friend who claimed to be based abroad, said an investigator.
“The bank account was shut within four days of withdrawal of the Rs 18 lakh from it,” said an investigator.
“She is 55 years old and her friend claimed to be 70-year-old foreigner, deeply in love with India and Hindu mythology,” said an investigator.
A Delhi government official in Chief Secretary K K Sharma’s team said another similar complaint of Rs 14 lakh being swindled from a married woman – related to a Delhi government official – by a Facebook friend has been brought to their notice.
“In both the cases, the complainant was befriended over six months and made to deposit some money in an account by luring them with jewellery item,” said an official who forwarded the second complaint to police.
The second woman complainant even attempted suicide after she lost the money saved for her daughter’s wedding and could not tell her husband about her fraudulent “lover” on the social media, said an official.