Dharavi businessman lose Rs 11.5 lakh in lottery fraud

A Dharavi-based businessman was allegedly duped to the tune of Rs 11.50 lakh by three people suspected to be of Nigerian descent in a lottery fraud case.

One of the accused identified himself as a British ambassador, who told the businessman that the money was needed to pay off custom duty and service tax charges in order to claim the winning amount of Rs 3.50 crore. The fraudsters also provided the businessman a bogus 'Royal Bank of Scotland' debit card to make their con look genuine.

According to the Dharavi police, complainant Polarsi Shekhar Nadar is a resident of Shashtri Nagar in Dharavi. On January 27, Nadar received a text from a sender who identified himself as 'David Morgan', a British ambassador. "The message said that Nadar's number had figured in the winning list of a lucky draw of a private motor company's lottery and that he had won Rs 3.50 crore. The sender asked for his PAN card number, voter ID and bank account details," said an officer from Dharavi police station. Nadar then sent copies of the documents to an email ID provided in the text.

"The sender then induced Nadar to deposit Rs 11.50 lakh in 13 different bank accounts on various pretexts such as custom clearance, service tax and conversion of currency between January 27 and August 27. The sender also sent him an ATM card. However, when the victim tried to use the card, he realised it was fake," said the officer.

The police have registered a case of cheating and forgery against Morgan and two others. A parallel probe has been initiated by the cyber crime police.