‘UK man’ dupes woman of Rs 6 lakh with RT-PCR test plea

MUMBAI: A 28-year-old HR manager became the first person to be duped by requests for money to pay for the RT-PCR test at the airport by a man claiming to have come to meet her from a foreign country after befriending her on a marriage portal. The woman lost more than Rs 6 lakh.
The man, who claimed to be one Hardan Gunbir from the UK, contacted the HR professional and told her he had flown to India to meet her and said he had been stopped at the Delhi Airport and asked to undergo the Covid-19 test and the yellow fever test.He explained that these were mandatory for all flyers coming to India from the UK after the second wave of Covid-19 in the European country. He said he had no Indian currency to pay for the tests.

The new trick is a variation of a love-match fraudster’s old favourite where he claims to have brought costly gifts or foreign currency for his lady love and asks her to help him clear customs by sending him Indian money.
In the latest case, the fraudster made the victim, an Andheri (east) resident, transfer money to different bank accounts. He said he would compensate her by depositing a cheque of Rs 1 crore in her account for helping him with the Indian currency to get the RT-PCR and yellow fever tests done.
The victim realised she had been duped after the man demanded another Rs 3.5 lakh after she had transferred Rs 6 lakh. This time he gave a different reason. She lodged a complaint with the police on December 26.
“We have sought details to learn about the money trails from the four banks, including two nationalised ones, to which the victim transferred the money,” a police officer said. “These banks have been asked to freeze the accounts. The probe is on to know whether money was withdrawn from any part of the country. The victim transferred money that she had saved from her earnings and had kept for her marriage.”