Retired ACP orders dry fruits online, loses Rs 31,000

A 74-year-old retired assistant commissioner of police (ACP) here has been allegedly duped of Rs 31,019 while ordering dry fruits online, the Mumbai police said. The victim, retired ACP Dnyandeo Kachruji Wankhede, father of Indian Revenue Service officer Sameer Wankhede, had on October 22 ordered dry fruits on a mobile number which was flashed in an advertisement on Facebook, as per the FIR.

After calling on the number and placing an order worth Rs 2,000, he sent the money through UPI, an official said. Some time after placing the order, the victim received a call from a person claiming his parcel was ready, but had been locked due to GST issues, following which the victim told the caller that he does not need the dry fruits and demanded his money back.

The caller then asked him to send Re 1 on a given UPI number, so that he could return the money. The caller also asked him to enter a code on a given link and asked him to enter some number, the official said. As the victim entered numbers on the link, he received messages about deduction of money from his bank account, he said. He was duped of Rs 31,019, the official said.

Wankhede lodged a complaint with the Oshiwara police, following which an FIR was registered on October 22 against a person under Indian Penal Code Sections 419 and 420 (cheating) and provisions of the Information Technology Act, he said. A probe was on into the case, the police added.