VIJAYAWADA: Not paying heed to police alerts of keeping away from online friendship has resulted in a doctor losing Rs 4.88 lakh to his stranger friend whom he met on Facebook just three weeks back.
Just three days after a woman teacher lost Rs 8.52 lakh to her online friend, another such Facebook cheating incident was reported in Vijayawada on Sunday. A case under sections 415, 420 of IPC and IT Act 66 (B) was registered in Patamata police station and the investigation inwill soon begin.
The victim, a surgeon by profession for more than three years, is a resident of Ayappa Nagar. He received a friend request from a woman named Veronica Adams, who introduced herself as a businesswoman in London and told him that she was coming to India on Saturday for a meeting. Veronica further expressed her interest to visit Vijayawada to meet the doctor.
Two days later, Veronica messaged the doctor saying that she was in Delhi airport and was in customs custody. She further requested him to send money explaining that the customs department took all the money she had. “Someone impersonating as a customs officer called the doctor and asked him to deposit Rs 5 lakh to release Veronica. Worried, the doctor deposited around `4.88 lakh, withdrawing money from different bank accounts. When he called back the same number, it was switched off and then he realized that he has been duped,” said circle inspector Damodar.Damodar collected details of the bank accounts and forwarded them to the cyber crime department cell for further investigation.