Gangtok, 22 April: Too much into Facebook? Do watch out, as all your contacts in your friend list may not be friends actually. A woman from West Sikkim has complained that one of her Facebook friends swindled her of Rs 1.95 lakh.
According to police, Srijana Rai (name changed for security reasons), a resident of Hee Kyongbari, became friends on the social networking site with one William Jackson who claimed he was from the UK. The duo started chatting frequently since 2 April this year.
As per the woman’s complaint lodged at the Geyzing police station, her Facebook friend asked for her postal address on the pretext of sending some gadgets and 70,000 pounds to her.
Jackson then asked Rai to send cash amounting to Rs 1.95 lakh on various dates through the State Bank of India (SBI).
She was asked to pay Rs 25,000 first, and then she paid Rs 60,000 more, and finally a lump sum of Rs 110,000 as “international courier, anti-terrorism and money registration charges under the Ministry of Finance in New Delhi”.
She was also asked to submit a duly filled form through email and that she would be able to withdraw the cash sent from UK only in Delhi and after she had submitted the form.
However, when she was asked to pay more money, she suspected foul play and checked with her bank, only to find, to her horror, all her cash was withdrawn.
She said a “lady agent” kept in touch with her all that while.
After preliminary investigations, police have requested the State bank of India to freeze all the nine accounts used for the cash transaction.
Police have also requested the bank to provide the details of the customer’s mobile phones.
Further investigations are underway, said police officers.(SNS)
According to police, Srijana Rai (name changed for security reasons), a resident of Hee Kyongbari, became friends on the social networking site with one William Jackson who claimed he was from the UK. The duo started chatting frequently since 2 April this year.
As per the woman’s complaint lodged at the Geyzing police station, her Facebook friend asked for her postal address on the pretext of sending some gadgets and 70,000 pounds to her.
Jackson then asked Rai to send cash amounting to Rs 1.95 lakh on various dates through the State Bank of India (SBI).
She was asked to pay Rs 25,000 first, and then she paid Rs 60,000 more, and finally a lump sum of Rs 110,000 as “international courier, anti-terrorism and money registration charges under the Ministry of Finance in New Delhi”.
She was also asked to submit a duly filled form through email and that she would be able to withdraw the cash sent from UK only in Delhi and after she had submitted the form.
However, when she was asked to pay more money, she suspected foul play and checked with her bank, only to find, to her horror, all her cash was withdrawn.
She said a “lady agent” kept in touch with her all that while.
After preliminary investigations, police have requested the State bank of India to freeze all the nine accounts used for the cash transaction.
Police have also requested the bank to provide the details of the customer’s mobile phones.
Further investigations are underway, said police officers.(SNS)