“The fraudsters alleged that they had dispatched a courier with the laptop, mobile and demand draft for Rs 3 crore. A person named Charles Raymond was to leave London on October 1 with the winnings and reach Delhi the following day,” reads the complainant’s statement.(Representational Image) “The fraudsters alleged that they had dispatched a courier with the laptop, mobile and demand draft for Rs 3 crore. A person named Charles Raymond was to leave London on October 1 with the winnings and reach Delhi the following day,” reads the complainant’s statement.(Representational Image)

A CHEATING and impersonation complaint was registered last week in a three-year-old case, where a 21-year-old engineering student was allegedly duped of Rs 5.85 lakh by cyber frauds in Thane. The fraudsters allegedly emailed the complainant that he had won an online lottery and on pretext of giving him the winnings, extracted money from him.

Saiteja Gundeti, a resident of Padmanagar in Bhiwandi, in his statement to the police said he received an email around 3.45pm on September 30, 2015, from an unknown email address. The mail stated that he had won a lottery in the UK, a sum of Rs 3 crore along with a laptop and a mobile phone.

“The fraudsters alleged that they had dispatched a courier with the laptop, mobile and demand draft for Rs 3 crore. A person named Charles Raymond was to leave London on October 1 with the winnings and reach Delhi the following day,” reads the complainant’s statement.

In his reply, Gundeti gave his personal details including cellphone number to the fraudsters.

“The next day, I got a call from Raymond, claiming he is in Delhi. He demanded Rs 12,000 to convert the currency to rupee,” said the complainant.

According to police, the complainant sent him the sum through money transfer October 10. He then asked for Rs 35,000 to open an account, then another Rs 27,000 as income tax the next month. By December 2015, the complainant had been duped into paying Rs 5.85 lakh under the pretext of paying various taxes. “In early 2016, the caller started ignoring his calls,” said an officer from Bhiwandi police station.

Gundeti then approached police in February, 2016.

Gundeti also went to his hometown during that period. His father Ravindra Gundeti wrote a complaint application to the Velgatoor police station in Telangana in April 2016. After investigating for a year, Velgatoor police said the crime had taken place in the jurisdiction of Bhiwandi city, after which the complainant approached them.

After the case papers were forwarded to the Thane police last year, Bhiwandi city police finally registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and under sections of the IT Act.

Police said they have obtained the number from which the suspects had contacted the complainant while they also have their email addresses. They are trying to retrieve their call data records and the IP address form where the emails had been sent.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest Mumbai News, download Indian Express App.