Guy Befriends Bizman With Girl Profile, Siphons Off Rs25 Lakh

Hyderabad: In a classic case of cyber crime, a city-based businessman fell prey to online tricksters and ended up losing Rs. 25 lakhs.

The businessman, Vishnuvardhan Reddy, received a friendship request from a British woman. She identified herself as an employee of United Laboratory. She stated that during her visit to New Delhi, she came across a company selling herbal seeds which have huge demand in the UK. She also tempted him by stating that packets of the herbal seeds can be sold for huge profit margins in the UK. She even gave Vishnuvardhan the contact number of the Delhi person who sells the herbal seeds. Thats when the accused Vikas Lakshminarayan Tiwari came into the picture.

Unknown British woman befriends a businessman and convinces him of huge profits in herbal seeds business. After he deposits the amount, the woman unfriends him and the promised goods never arrive.

When Vishnuvardhan called the number Tiwari answered it and stated that Rs. 25.87 lakhs were needed to be deposited into certain account for a delivery of 500 packets of herbal seeds. When Vishunuvardhan deposited the same, he did not get any acknowledgement nor was there any sign of the herbal seeds being delivered. To top it, the British woman 'un-friended' him on Facebook. When it dawned on him that he was duped by a group of cyber criminals, Vishunuvardhan approached the Hyderabad police.

During their investigation, police found that Tiwari was a Vodafone salesman and took care of the documentation of new phone connections. He came in contact with a Nigerian John Kennedy during his sales. The latter asked Tiwari to open several bank accounts for his cyber crime business activities which Tiwari promptly did along with his friend Sanjay. Both were promised 10 per cent commission after the crime money was deposited in the bank accounts by gullible victims. The police used the phone number in the Facebook, the IP address and other particulars to track down and arrest Tiwari. Further investigations are underway to nab others involved in the crime.