Woman duped of Rs 18 lakh by `Facebook friend'

Mumbai, Oct 02: A 29-year-old woman was allegedly cheated of Rs 18 lakh by a fraudster who befriended her on Facebook, police said on Wednesday.

The woman, who hails from Ratnagiri district and works as a caretaker here, filed a complaint in this regard with Versova police station on Tuesday, said an official.

She came in contact with a person who identified himself as `Vivek Patil' on Facebook in January 2023, she told police.

He claimed to be serving in the Indian Army and posted in Jammu and Kashmir.

After they started chatting regularly, he requested her to lend him some money, citing medical issues. The woman transferred money to a UPI address provided by him, the complaint said.

He asked for money many times after that, and the woman ended up transferring a total of Rs 18,30,101 to various accounts. Only when he stopped responding to her calls and messages, she realised that she had been taken for a ride.

A case was registered against two persons named Vivek Patil and one Laxman Dalvi whose UPI address was used for transferring money, and probe was on, the police official said.