German friend

Whatsapp

Electronic City police

A 40-year-old engineer lost Rs 25,000 to hiswho turned out to be a resident of India. The accused befriended him stating that he was born and brought up in Germany and was interested to do a project with him in the city. On the pretext of sending money to arrange for accommodation in the city, he accused claimed to have sent 95,000 US dollars through courier and a person claiming to be from parcel office asked him to pay Rs. 25,000. After making the payment, the person asked him to send Rs. 87,000 more and he called his German friend to check what was going on. To his shock, his German friend spoke in a Bihari accent and he soon realized that he had been conned.Sachin (name changed), a resident of Doddathuguru said that he is an application designer and a couple of months back, he had uploaded one of his designs in a Facebook group. The accused, Fredrik Benjamin who was part of the group, affirmed his work and expressed that he would like to work with him. Sachin said, “We became friends on Facebook a couple of months ago and we had been chatted once in a while. On November 24, he informed me that he was planning to come to the city and asked me to help him to get a house here in the city. He had taken my address and other details saying that he wanted to send a small courier. He later told me that he was sending 95,000 dollars along with an Iphone, laptop and other things which he would require to work later once he shifts to the city. I told him that it was a huge amount and asked him not to send it and get it along with him in December.”“Couple of hours later he replied saying that he had already sent the package and I had to receive it. On November 29, I received a call from a woman named Ranju Basumatary who claimed that she was from the parcel office in New Delhi. She asked me to pay Rs. 25,000 charges for the courier to be delivered to my address. I contacted him and asked him what was it all about and I did not have that much money to pay. He convinced me that he will send me the money through online and told me that it would take 48 hours as the German banks work in a different way and it would take a lot of time for the amount to be transferred. Believing him, I sent Rs. 25,000 to her account and after a while, she again called me asking for Rs. 87,000 to get anti money laundering certificate. She told me that for 95,000 US dollars, I had to get the certificate otherwise the parcel will be stuck there itself,” he said. Sachin started doubting her and called his German friend onand to his shock, the German friend started speaking in Bihari accent. He said, “Long back, I had spoken to him on a WhatsApp call but it was a short call so I did not notice his pronunciations. This time while I was speaking to him and I was arguing with him saying that I was not going to pay so much money and was asking him to pick it up by himself once he reaches here. While he was speaking, I noticed his pronunciation and I started suspecting the worst. When I asked him about it, he cut the call and blocked my number,” he said.Sachin realised that he was a fraud and filed a complaint with theon Monday.