Three including two Nigerians arrested for cyber frauds

Mumbai: Three persons including two Nigerian nationals have been arrested in separate cases for allegedly duping people after befriending them on social media and promising to send `gifts’, Mumbai police said on Wednesday. A city resident had recently approached the cyber police station of the crime branch with a complaint that he was cheated of Rs 18 lakh, said an official.

A person who had befriended the complainant on Facebook told him that he had sent him 40,000 Euros from Australia and the complainant should collect the money from the Delhi airport by paying customs duty, the official said.

Later a person called him, and identifying himself as the Facebook friend who had sent the gift, told the complainant that he was speaking from Delhi. The complainant should deposit money as customs duty, income tax and `exchange of currency fees’ in various bank accounts, he said. The complainant deposited at least Rs 18.80 lakh in various accounts. When the promised 40,000 Euros never arrived, he realized that he had been duped, the police official said.

The cyber police registered an offense under IPC section 420 (cheating) and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act and arrested Nigerian national Hamed Sora alias Eric Chris (28) and his partner Rubini Gunsekharan (24) from Delhi earlier this week.

In another case where a person was cheated of Rs 2.75 lakh using the same method, the cyber police arrested Godwin Jonathan Ejje (34), a Nigerian national, from the national capital, the official said.

Around Rs 8 lakh in cash were recovered from the accused in the first case whereas 13 mobiles phones, 15 SIM cards and seven ATM cards were recovered in the second FIR, he said, adding that further probe was underway.