Panaji : Cyber Crime police, on Sunday, have arrested a 36-year-old woman from Velim, Salcete, for creating 5 different fake profiles on social media site Facebook, and duping two persons of Rs 465,000.
The accused would pose as a 21-year-old nurse working at GMC, Bambolim.
The police said that “the accused using the fake profile would target Goan youth working abroad. The modus operandi of the woman was that she used to develop friendship with only Goan youth working abroad over social media sites.
She used to give her background as a 21-year old nurse working at GMC, Bambolim, staying with her mother and that her father expired at her a very young age.
Then as the friendship would develop, she would make a story that her mother all of a sudden got sick and that she is being taken to Mumbai for emergency medical treatment.
Then the story would continue that she is in Mumbai for her mother’s treatment, and the doctor has advised for an emergency operation and that she is running out of cash. She would then request for money from the youth with whom she developed friendship for the medical treatment.
Then further she used to request the youth to send money through Western Union Money Transfer in her cousin’s name who could then hand it over to her as she being in Mumbai.
A complaint for fake profile creation was filled at the Cyber Crime police station by the girl whose name and picture was used to create the fake profile, reported The Navhind Times.
During the investigation, the Cyber Crime police found out that the accused chatting with the youth working abroad and clamming to be in Mumbai for mother’s treatment was in fact in Goa itself and not in Mumbai.
The police also traced that the woman who was chatting on fake identity and the cousin to whom the money were transferred was in fact the same woman, based on her location, voice and other parameters. The money was received by the accused using her correct ID but posing as the cousin of the chatting woman.
During the investigation it was found that the accused cheated Jovino (full details withheld) working in Dubai to the tune of Rs 4,15,000 over a period of time and Seby working in London to the tune of Rs 50,000 with the story of her mother’s sickness.
The accused was in the process of extracting another Rs 1 lakh using the same story of her mother’s sickness and her mother’s admission in Mumbai hospital for emergency operation from Seby when Cyber Crime Police intervened, monitored and further laid a trap and nabbed the accused.
Victim Jovino had transferred money to the accused through Western Union Money Transfer and on 3 occasions had handed over cash in person to the accused through his brother in Goa.
Seby had transferred the money to the accused through Western Union Money Transfer.
The police contacted both and collected the details from them. The police are also investigating for any more victim.
The police have attached 3 mobile phones, laptop, tablet, two wireless routers all worth Rs 90,000 approximately which the accused have disclosed to have purchased from the money sent by victim besides a cash of Rs 38,000 from the accused.
The police said that of the three mobiles, one was used by the accused for the fake ID and other for posing as her cousin, giving calls and chatting.
The cyber surveillance and detection team for the case included PI Rajesh Job, PSI Kapil Shirgonakar, PC Udesh Kerkar, PC Shaibas D Shaik and LPC Princy Nilankavil.
The team worked under the the supervision of SP Cyber Crime Karthik Kashyap.