A 22-year-old woman, who wanted a loan of Rs 1 lakh, lost over Rs 14 lakh as two men duped her by posing as executives of a finance company, the police said today.
The victim's father, who was a business head with a company in Thane, near Mumbai, had deposited around Rs 18 lakh into her bank account after his retirement. Of this, the woman had spent Rs 1 lakh for personal reasons, which she wanted to replenish, a police officer said.
Therefore, she decided to take a loan of that amount.
On July 24, she received a call from a man who posed as a representative of a private finance company and offered to provide her with the loan amount. When she agreed, he asked her to make a payment of Rs 2,600 as processing fees, which she did, the police said.
Later, despite submitting all her details, the woman's loan was not processed. When she reached out to the finance company, another man told her that the agent she was dealing with has contracted coronavirus and that he will handle her case going forth, the official said.
That man also told her that the loan needs to be reprocessed and asked her to transfer money on several occasions, he said, adding that the man also told her that the payment will be refunded later.
She lost Rs 14.47 lakh as she continued making these payments between July and September, the police said. She later realised that she has been cheated and approached the police.
A case of cheating has been filed under the Indian Penal Code against the accused, who identified themselves as Raj Kunde and Anjuman Shau.
