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The wife of a personal assistant to a sitting MLA has been allegedly duped of around ₹6.25 lakh by unidentified cyber fraudsters. According to the police, the accused befriended the woman on social media and later cheated her by claiming to send expensive gifts and foreign currency from abroad as a birthday present. Based on the complaint, the Bhandup Police have registered a case of cheating along with relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and have launched a search for the unidentified cyber criminals. According to the police, the complainant resides in Bhandup, and her husband works as a personal assistant to a sitting MLA. About three years ago, she had created an account on Instagram where she regularly uploaded videos of her daughter. On March 4, she received a friend request from an unknown person identifying himself as Chef Benedict. Two days later, she accepted the request. The person then initiated a conversation, complimenting her family and asking where she lived. In response, she shared her details and asked about him. He told her that he lived in the UK, had two brothers, his mother was a teacher, his father an architect, and that he worked as a cook. During their conversations, he asked about the birthdays of her, her husband, and her daughter. He then claimed that his mother wanted to send her a birthday gift. The woman initially refused, saying there was no need for a gift. However, the next day he again insisted, stating that exchanging gifts was part of their Christian tradition and she should accept it. As he spoke to her in a friendly, brother-like manner, the woman eventually shared her WhatsApp number and residential address. The accused then told her that he was sending a necklace, an expensive watch, a purse, perfume, and £40,000 as a gift. He also sent her a photo of a receipt from World Logistic Courier Service, which made her believe his claim. On March 9, she received a call from a woman who claimed that an international parcel had arrived for her and that she needed to pay ₹70,000 as charges. Initially, she did not respond. When she contacted Benedict about the call, he told her it was not a fraud and that the parcel had indeed been sent. Soon after, she received messages allegedly from the UK Customs Department, stating that the parcel contained expensive items and foreign currency and that certain fees had to be paid to release it. The fraudsters subsequently asked her to transfer money on multiple occasions citing different charges. Believing the claims, the woman transferred around ₹6.25 lakh into the bank accounts provided by them. However, despite making the payments, she never received the parcel. Realising that she had been cheated, she approached the Bhandup Police and lodged a complaint against the cyber fraudsters. Following the complaint, the police have registered a case of cheating and relevant IT Act provisions against unknown persons and have initiated further investigation.

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