Dinesh Sharma, an avid social media user, fell in a honeytrap and lost Rs 1.10 lakh. Although he lodged a complaint with police, he knows at the back of his mind that the money is all but gone.

The 41-year-old senior manager in a telecom company befriended a girl named Neha Bajaj who claimed to be based in London. Both developed a close relationship.

"We started talking as friends. Soon, we exchanged text messages. She told me that as her father is an Indian, she wanted to come to India on a long break. I decided to help her when she told me she knows nobody in India and would need help with booking hotels," Sharma told Mail Today. "While discussing her vacation plans, she said she would send gifts for me as I have been kind to her," he added.

On November 6, the woman gave Sharma details of the courier, including receipts and the reference number.

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"The list included things like teddy bear, laptop, watch and some money in pounds. She told me she had sent them through a diplomatic courier service and I will have to pay for the clearance in Indian currency," he said.

Sharma said since the beginning of the conversation, he was asked details about his salary and other financial details. "The day the status of the parcel mentioned 'arrived in India', I received a call from the company asking me to pay Rs 23,600 for custom clearance. I was told the parcel is in Mumbai. I paid the amount in the given bank account. The same day, demonetisation was announced and I was told they are not able to withdraw cash from the account due to the same and the amount has to be paid in cash and will take some time for clearance," the FIR stated.

Sharma said, "After a while, I was asked to Rs 85,000 for some registration without which the package would not be delivered. Meanwhile, Neha kept calling me and emotionally blackmailed asking me to speed up the procedure."

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"Eventually, she started building pressure on me to make the payments. Somehow, I got into the trap and paid the amount. They later said that since they did not get the amount and norms have also become strict, they would send the package to the Royal Bank of Scotland which would convert the pounds in rupees," he said. It was then that Sharma grew suspicious.

"My suspicion got stronger when they asked for Rs 2 lakh to convert the currency. I decided to get in touch with bank officials who explained it's a fraud," he said.

SI Manish Yadav, the investigating officer, told Mail Today, "Everyday, Delhi sees a number of such cases. Investigation is on, but so far, we don't have any lead."

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