A woman was lured into parting with Rs. 1.30 crore by a person who became her friend on Facebook after he assured her a sum of about Rs. 9 crore to open an old-age home in Dehradun.
The victim, Beena Bor Thankur, a resident of Ram Vihar, was first asked to clear a tax to get the amount. Falling into the trap, she deposited Rs. 1.3 crore in various bank accounts only to realize soon after that she had been fooled.
The report said the victim was the wife of an ONGC employee who came into contact with Richard Anderson through Facebook in November last year.
Dehradun SSP was quoted as saying in the report that Anderson told Beena that he wanted to help the people of India and came up with several proposals to that end. He assured her that he would provide Rs. 9 crore for the oldage home.
A few days later, Thakur received a call in which the caller claimed he was from the foreign exchange branch of Reserve Bank of India. He told Thakur she could claim the amount by paying the tax due on it. In total, she deposited Rs. 1.30 crore in 25 accounts.
Police have registered a case and begun probe.
