Ex-Armyman falls for black dollar scam; loses Rs 4.1 lakh

Online fraudsters claiming to be based in the UK have cheated a retired junior commissioned officer of the army of Rs4.1 lakh by promising to pay him about Rs10 crore for carrying out work for their charitable organisation in India.

Srinivasan R, a resident of the army officers’ quarters in Gangammanagudi, has now filed a cheating complaint against them.

On May 5, Srinivasan had received a mail from one Helen Klein, who claimed to be the head of a charity organisation in the UK. Klein asked him if he was interested in doing charity work in India on behalf of their organisation. She lured him by saying that her organisation would be spending $9 million (about ` 50 crore) for the work and he would be eligible to receive 20 per cent of the amount if he agreed to their terms and conditions.

An excited Srinivasan wasted no time in agreeing to the offer. Klein then asked him to transfer Rs58,460 into an ICICI bank account as the fee for a safe deposit locker to keep the donation money.

A few days later, the ex-JCO received a mail from one Justin Woods, who claimed to the representative of OCJ Logistics. Saying that he had received a courier from the UK, Woods asked Srinivasan to pay the customs duty to get the courier released. Srinivasan was told to transfer Rs1.2 lakh to an ICICI savings bank account in the name of Inox Enterprises in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

After making both the payments, Srinivasan received a mail from one James Harrison, who claimed to be a representative of the Swiss embassy. Harrison asked Srinivasan to pay Rs2.4 lakh for the purchase of a chemical used to clean currency notes before making their delivery to him. Harrison said the notes had been covered with a washable ink as a security measure and needed to be cleaned.

Srinivasan, who paid this amount too, got suspicious when Harrison then asked for another Rs10 lakh.

By May 15, when he demanded an explanation about the delay in payment to him, Srinivasan lost all communication with Klein, Woods and Harrison.

The Gangammanagudi police, who have registered a case under the IT Act, say it is a clear case of internet fraud by a gang operating from north India.