Once the two men stopped all contact, the taxi driver realised he had been cheated. (Representational)
A taxi driver was cheated of Rs 17 lakh by unidentified persons who asked him to pay "charges" in order to get gifts from the "Archbishop of a Roman Catholic Church in France" released from the "Customs", a Thane police official said.
The two unidentified accused had befriended the 54-year-old taxi driver on social media, the official added.
"They told the victim the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic church at France had released funds for the poor, and he was to get two lakhs Euros, a gold chain, laptop, Iphones, Bible etc. He gave Rs 17.37 lakh as customs charges and other taxes through three banks between March 20 and April 1," the official said.
Once the two men stopped all contact, the taxi driver realised he had been cheated and approached police, the official added.
A case has been registered under Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act provisions, he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)