Nigerian woman among two held in Delhi for duping people in name of customs clearance

Police said that they received a complaint at Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations Unit (IFSO) wherein the complainant alleged that he came in contact with a UK-based girl who went by the name Rebecca on the internet. Soon, they became friends and started chatting and calling through WhatsApp. “She told the complainant that she was working with Citibank Power Station in the UK and wished to visit historic places in India. She also shared her flight ticket from Heathrow to Mumbai through Dubai with the complainant. On November 20 last year, he received a call from a person posing as a customs officer from Mumbai airport. The man told him that Rebecca was facing some document-related issues at the airport for which she needed some money for customs clearance,” said the officer.

The person then proceeded to share details of a bank account and asked the complainant to deposit money in it. “Initially, he refused to give any money, but she (Rebecca) started crying and promised to return the money… She told him that her card was blocked and all her belongings were under customs clearance. Hence, he agreed to help her and initially paid Rs 50,000 only on humanitarian grounds. After some time, the said officer again called him and forced him to deposit more money on one pretext or another,” said the officer quoted above.

Eventually, the complainant ended up depositing around Rs 7 lakh in different bank accounts on different dates.

After a case was lodged, the accused woman, later identified as Agene, was arrested and during interrogation, she stated that she hailed from a poor family in Nigeria, said the official, adding she had come to India to study and look for a job. “In October 2022, she met Uzomo, the co-accused, at a club. He told her that she could earn a handsome amount of money if she joined him,” said DCP (IFSO) Hemant Tiwari.

Together, the duo began duping innocent men whose contact details they would find on a mobile application, said police. “They used to send pictures of UK-based girls to gain the trust of prospective Indian targets… she claimed that she had been calling the complainant in the present case by the name of Rebecca and had been talking to him through WhatsApp… the UK number, the fake air tickets and an Indian SIM was arranged by co-accused Uzomo,” they added.