Facebook friendship turns quite costly for Hyderabad woman

The ‘stranger danger’ concept, despite the police repeatedly telling people not to trust strangers on the web, is yet to catch up, if the number of people falling prey to fraudsters on social networking sites like Facebook are any indication.

Hyderabad: Call it stranger danger, Facebook style.

The ‘stranger danger’ concept, despite the police repeatedly telling people not to trust strangers on the web, is yet to catch up, if the number of people falling prey to fraudsters on social networking sites like Facebook are any indication.

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The latest in the constantly growing list from Hyderabad was a woman, who ended losing a staggering Rs.13 lakh after a stranger who turned friend tricked her using the trap of friendship.

According to the police, the victim became friends with the fraudster on Facebook in 2019, when she was a student. They began chatting and the friendship blossomed, with both exchanging mobile phone numbers and chatting on WhatsApp as well.

The only difference from umpteen other similar cases reported in the city was that, instead of lying that he was from the US or the UK, the man behind the Facebook wall had said he was from Germany. Police said he slowly gained her trust, regularly enquiring about her family and her health with the woman not smelling anything fishy even when he asked about her financial status too.

He then told her that he was sending her some US dollars, costly ornaments and even toys as a token of their ‘friendship’. She would only have to pay the packing and courier charges, he said, with the victim failing to sense the danger even then.

“He shared some bills on WhatsApp, convincing her even more. The next day, she received a call from a person claiming to be an official from the Delhi Airport, asking her to pay Customs duty for the gifts. The tokens of friendship saw her sending all the money they asked, totaling to nearly Rs.13 lakh,” an official said, adding that the victim realized much later that she was cheated and approached the Hyderabad Cybercrime Police.

The police, who booked a case, have found that ‘German’ friend was operating from not Berlin or Frankfurt but much nearer home in Delhi. A police team is on its way to meet him.

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