Mumbai: Woman Duped of Rs 18 Lakh in Cyber Fraud by Impostors Posing as Army Officer

A shocking case of cyber fraud has surfaced in Versova, Mumbai, where cyber criminals duped a woman of ₹18 lakh by first sending her a Facebook friend request. Once the woman accepted the request, the fraudsters posed as an army officer and conned her out of the huge sum. Based on the woman's complaint, Versova police have registered a case against Vivek Patil and Laxman Dalvi and have launched a search operation to apprehend them.

According to officers from Versova Police Station, on January 1, 2023, a 29-year-old woman received a Facebook friend request from the accused, Vivek Patil, which she accepted in May 2023. Following this, the accused initiated a conversation with the woman and introduced himself as an army officer, a claim the woman believed. On March 17, 2024, the accused told the woman that he was unwell and asked her for ₹2,000, requesting that the money be sent to his friend and co-accused Laxman Patil’s Google Pay account. The woman obliged and transferred the money.

The accused, Vivek Patil, continued to claim that he was stationed in Kashmir and unable to withdraw the money, asking for further financial assistance on multiple occasions. In this manner, the woman was duped of a total of over ₹18 lakh.

It was on September 8, when the woman tried calling Vivek Patil and received no response, that she realized she had been defrauded. Following her complaint, the Versova police have registered a case under IPC Section 420 and Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act, and an investigation is currently underway.