Retd IB officer duped of 1.5L via account in name of acquaintance

Bhopal: Posing as a ‘senior officer', unidentified cyber-criminals allegedly duped a retired Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer of Rs 1.51 lakh on the pretext of selling household goods. Shahpura police said the retired IB officer resides in the Shahpura area. A few days ago, while browsing Facebook on his mobile phone, he came across a post that appeared to be from the account of an acquaintance who is also an officer. The post stated that the person was transferred to another city and wanted to sell his household items. A contact number was also provided in the post.When the retired officer contacted the given number through message, the person claimed he would sell all the household goods for Rs 1.51 lakh. Finding the deal reasonable, the retired officer transferred the amount to the specified bank account. He did not call the number as he believed that the fraudster was an officer he knew.However, after making the payment, the goods were never delivered. When he tried to contact the seller again, the mobile number was switched off. Later, he managed to contact the acquaintance whose account was used for the post, who clarified that he had not been transferred and had not posted any such information about selling goods.Realising he had been cheated, the retired IB officer filed a complaint with police, after which a case was registered against an unidentified accused.