Srinagar: All online friends can not be friends. Some can be real cheaters.

At least that is what a new case undertaken by the Crime Branch involving an online fraud is pointing towards.

A man was duped by an online female friend on the social networking site Facebook.

Crime Branch Kashmir received a complaint from Ishfaq Ahmed Zargar, a resident Tawheedabad Nowshehra Srinagar, in which he revealed that the complainant developed Facebook friendship with one London (UK) based lady Aasia Lina who requested the complainant to make arrangements for her visit to Kashmir.

The complainant received a phone call from her to collect a parcel sent by her at his address, the crime branch said, adding, subsequently, he received another phone call and was requested to pay an amount of Rs. 35,000/= as customs charges on the said parcel containing a cheque of hundred thousand Pounds, Laptop, Cell Phone etc which she had purportedly sent on his address and he paid the said money.

“Thereafter, he received series of phone calls, being asked to pay Rs.  68,000/=, 1, 79,500/=, 4,94000/= for clearance in Foreign Ministry, obtaining UN code, & Govt. tax code respectively,” the crime branch said.

“The complainant thus transferred the money into the different account numbers provided by the said caller. He was duped in this way with an amount of Rs. 7,76,500/=,” it added.

Subsequently, a preliminary enquiry was initiated at the Crime Branch Kashmir.

“During the course of which it came to fore that the complainant has transferred the aforementioned amounts in various accounts on the mere phone calls received by him on different occasions who have later realized that he has been duped,” the crime branch stated.

“The complainant has transferred an amount of Rs. 35000/= on 11/01/2018 in the Bank A/C No. 37341201355  which is maintained in the name of Samar Dass R/O 13/39 KarunamoyeeGhat Road near Rangkalmath Kolkata-700082 (SBI Muchipara) West Bengal. He further transferred Rs. 68000/= to account No. 37341201355 and Rs. 179500/= in the A/C No. 20295102325 who is mentioned Rahul Varma (SBI Branch) Tis- Hazari north-east Delhi from his account Branch S.R. Gunj through mobile banking. Complainant also transferred an amount of Rs. 494000/= into the Bank account No. 37350155859 who is maintained in the name of Waseem R/O 914935, Gali No. 12 Ajit Nagar (SBI Jheel Chowk Gandi Nagar) East New Delhi. It transpired that he was further asked to deposit an amount of Rs. 942000/= for obtaining antiterrorism Code, but this time the complainant realized that he had been duped,” the crime branch investigation revealed.

Accordingly, the crime branch registered the case FIR No. 29/2018 U/S 420,120-B r/w section 66-D of IT Act and took up the investigations.