Nigerian held for extorting Rs 81 lakh from Kottayam woman

Kottayam: The Cyber Cell wing of Kerala police has arrested a Nigerian national from Delhi for allegedly duping a Kottayam woman of Rs 81 lakh.

Police said the 26-year-old accused, identified as Izuchukwu, had cheated the woman hailing from Changanassery after befriending her through Facebook.

In 2021, he befriended the woman by creating a fake Facebook profile in the name of Anna Morgan. On August 15, the housewife was made to believe that she has received a gift worth Rs 30 crore as part of her Independence Day celebrations.

A few days later, a person claiming to be a diplomatic agent at the Mumbai Customs office told her over the phone that a valuable gift has arrived from the UK. He also asked her to pay a customs duty of Rs 22,000. The person also sent pictures and videos of the gift on WhatsApp. Believing this, the woman sent money to the account he mentioned.

From then on, she would receive phone calls from customs officials at various airports. She would oblige by sending the money to the suggested accounts.

When she stopped sending money, she would receive calls from 'customs officers' threatening to take legal action against if she did not pay the money as the gift was from abroad. Fearing the worst she even sold gold and took loans to pay the con.

When the threat continued, she lodged a complaint with the district police chief in July 2022.

Following an investigation by a special team of cyber police, they learned that the fraud calls came from Delhi. The team reached Delhi and caught him near his residence.

District police chief K Karthik said police are checking whether he had any accomplices and whether more people have fallen prey to his fraud calls.