Mumbai: 69-Year-Old Woman Duped of ₹45,064 in Facebook Forex Scam; Police Register FIR

Mumbai, August 22: A 69-year-old woman from Andheri East has fallen victim to an online foreign currency investment scam, losing ₹45,064 to fraudsters who promised high returns via a Facebook session. The Vile Parle police have registered a case against an unidentified person under cheating and cybercrime-related charges.

The complainant, Nilawati V, a former State Bank of India (SBI) manager and currently working as a recruitment manager with Kotak Life Insurance, was targeted on August 16 while watching a Facebook session promoting foreign currency investments. The session featured a speaker who claimed investors could earn lucrative returns in just hours.

Following the session, Nilawati received a call from an unknown number. The caller introduced himself as a representative of a foreign exchange investment firm and convinced her to invest money through their platform, promising returns within six hours.

Initially persuaded, Nilawati transferred ₹21,000 through Google Pay to an individual named Joseph Mehev, as instructed. The next day, she received another call urging her to invest more, citing that the previous amount was “insufficient” for returns. Trusting the caller once again, she transferred an additional ₹24,064.

In total, Nilawati lost ₹45,064 before realizing the fraud, as repeated calls pressured her to invest even more, yet no returns were received.

Based on her complaint, Vile Parle police registered a case on August 20 against an unidentified fraudster under Section 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act.

The police have initiated a probe into the scam and are tracking digital footprints, including phone numbers and payment transactions.