Three men from Africa and two women from Manipur have been arrested for allegedly duping a woman of Rs 27,500 after getting in touch with her on a mobile messaging app.
A team from the cyber crime police station in Salt Lake arrested the five from New Delhi late on Friday.
A woman from Gopalpur near Rajarhat in east Kolkata lodged a police complaint on December 1 stating that she had received a WhatsApp message from a person who identified herself as Theresa Deb Wongie.
An officer of Bidhannagar commissionerate said the woman had received several messages where the person posing as Wongie asked her whether she was interested to “export sarees from West Bengal”.
“The victim was initially asked to send in a presentation on Indian sari culture in order to be selected for exporting sarees.”
A few days later she received another message from the same number where there was a “confirmation of her selection and eligibility to export sarees”.
In April, the woman again received a message where she was told that gifts had been bought for her and her husband and even the photographs were sent across to her along with a website address of a courier service and a tracking number.
“A few days later the Rajarhat resident got a call from a woman who introduced herself as a customs officer and asked her to pay Rs 27,500 as clearance fees. She was also provided with a bank account number to which the victim transferred the money.”
However, no “gifts” arrived at her doorstep.
The complainant again received a call where the caller demanded more money.
She then realised that she was duped and filed a complaint.
All of them were produced before a Delhi court that allowed a seven-day transit remand.