A 75-year-old businessman in Mumbai fell victim to a cyber fraud scheme and lost a substantial sum of Rs 3.3 crore. This incident came to light after the elderly man, who owns a private company, reported the fraud to the West Region Cyber Crime Police Station.
According to the report of TOI, the scam involved a Ukrainian woman named Esema, who lured the businessman with promises of starting a business in India. She explained that her home country, Ukraine, was in a dire state due to the ongoing war. Initially, she reached out to the businessman via email and expressed her company's interest in purchasing machinery equipment.
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Later, she promised to send him a box with $9.7 lakh in cash (which is about Rs 8 crore in Indian currency) to help start the business. However, she claimed that the box was seized by the police in Jakarta, Indonesia. To release the box, she asked the man to pay various fees.
Over eight months, the elderly man sent money to 101 different Indian bank accounts as requested by Esema. In total, he sent Rs 3.3 crore, hoping to receive the Rs 8 crore promised. However, he never got anything in return.
"The mail sender gave 101 account numbers to the complainant, asking him to pay fees for various certificates. He kept sending money for eight months to various accounts. In all, he sent Rs 3.3 crore, hoping to get the Rs 8 crore," police told TOI.
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The woman kept making excuses and asked for more money, including fees for certificates like anti-drug and money laundering clearance, transfer certificate fees, and more. If the man didn't pay, she threatened to take legal action against him.
In addition to the initial promises, he was also asked to provide income tax reports, a power of attorney, insurance, an original fund clearance certificate, and ministry of finance certificates. This left the elderly man scammed out of a large sum of money.
