Mumbai, March 7 The Mumbai Police have cracked an 'international gifting fraud and arrested two Niger allegedly perpetrating it from Navi Mumbai, officials said here on Saturday.
The racket was detected when a Crime Branch team of Mahesh Desai, Sanjiv Gawde and Asha Korke intercepted a Corolla car at Bandra Reclamation with two Nigerian nationals sitting in it, late on Thursday.
A search of the vehicle revealed 10 mobiles phone, 2 laptops, 2 mobile hotspots, 2 Nigerian passports, cash and other articles, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Akbar Pathan.
Upon interrogation, the Nigerian duo admitted to masterminding an all-India racket of befriending gullible people by uploading fake women's profiles on social media networks, from Navi Mumbai.
Thereafter, through online chats and phone calls from purported international numbers, they would lure them with offers of attractive gifts from abroad, prepare and send fake documents that appeared to be original for completing various formalities.
Later, they would make excuses on various counts to extort lakhs of rupees from the victims by posing as customs of Reserve Bank of India officials, and providing different bank accounts for money transfers.
"The accused are identified as Nwankwo Raphael Chinonso, 34 and Azudiefe Emeka Ennanuel, 38. Investigations revealed that they have so far defrauded several victims who have lost nearly Rs.700,000 so far," ACP Pathan told .
The Crime Branch is also probing the mobiles and laptops to unravel if other accomplices are involved and how far their tentacles are spread in the racket.
( With inputs from IANS )