New Delhi: A Nigerian youth was arrested in New Delhi on Tuesday for defrauding a woman of Rs 14 lakh by sending a fictitious official message to her through a fake WhatsApp number in the name of Kerala Police Chief and DGP (Law and Order) Anil Kant.
Romanas Chiboochi, 28, managed to defraud Rs 14 lakh from a teacher at Kundara in Kollam district by posing as the DGP of Kerala.
How the woman was duped
In his message to the woman, Chiboochi who posed as the DGP, stated that she won the prize in an online lottery draw and if she did not pay the tax for it, a case would be registered against her by the police.
The message was received from the WhatsApp number having the name and photograph of DGP Anil Kant. She was asked to deposit the tax to the account number given in the message well before the return of the DGP to Kerala from Delhi.
When the woman called the Kerala Police Headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram to cross-check the message, she got a reply that the DGP had gone to Delhi. This made her believe that the message was genuine. She then transferred the money to the bank account of the fraudster.
Tough police operation
In a tough operation, the police took the Nigerian youth to custody from Uttam Nagar in Delhi after two days of intense search by tracking the mobile number to which WhatsApp is linked.
The foreigners living in the area tried to block the police party when he was arrested. The police took him out of the colony in an adventurous manner. He was later produced before the Dwaraka Magistrate Court. He will be brought to Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
Over 10 mobile phones were recovered from the house of the youth. It is estimated that the accused had indulged in such frauds to the tune of Rs 40 lakh. It was found that he had transferred the money received through the fraud to bank accounts in Assam and Nagaland.
Circle Inspectors (Cyber Crime) PB Vinod Kumar, who is leading the investigation, said more people are likely involved in the fraud.
