Navi Mumbai police book six persons for duping senior citizen of Rs 31 lakh

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The Navi Mumbai police on Sunday booked six persons for allegedly luring a senior citizen with "investment schemes" offering high returns and duping him of nearly Rs 31 lakh, an official said.

The 66-year-old complainant, who lives in Koparkhairane, told Navi Mumbai police that the alleged fraudsters first contacted him in November 2023, the official said.

Since then, they regularly communicated with him and enticed him to invest Rs 31.1 lakh in various "schemes" claiming that he would get handsome returns, the official said, citing the complaint.

The retired man approached the Cyber police station after he did not receive any money in return despite follow-ups, he said.

The police registered a cheating case against the six on Friday, and a probe is underway, the official added.

In a separate incident, the Mumbai police raided an illegal call centre in the western suburb of Andheri here and arrested 10 people for allegedly duping US nationals on the pretext of selling them medicines, an official said on Sunday.

The crime branch raided the premises at Summit Business Bay in Andheri on Saturday and apprehended the accused, who have been booked under section 420 (cheating) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act, he said.

Also read: Mumbai Police bust fake call centre in Andheri; 10 held for duping US nationals on pretext of selling medicines

The fraudsters allegedly targeted US nationals through VoIP calling and posed as representatives of online pharmaceutical companies, the official said.

The accused took orders for medicines from the victims, who paid them in US dollars, and then did not deliver the medicines, he said.

Also read: DRI Mumbai seizes Rs 10 cr worth of foreign cigarettes disguised as carpets at Nhava Sheva Port

The crime branch seized electronic equipment during the raid, the official said, adding that further probe is underway to find out the extent of the fraud.

In another incident, a 29-year-old man was held by the Mulund Police in Mumbai for allegedly deceiving a victim of Rs 85,000 under the pretext of selling an expensive phone, the police said on Saturday.

The incident came to light when the complainant approached the Mulund Police upon suspecting a scam.

According to the police, on January 9, the victim received a call from an unknown person identifying himself as one Rajendra. The caller claimed to have a brand-new, sealed iPhone 14 Pro Max at his shop for a low price. The victim, enticed by the offer, made an online payment of Rs. 85,000 to the suspect who did not deliver the phone to the victim after receiving the money. (With inputs from Press Trust of India)