Over a dozen models from the capital, including a 20-year-old Delhi University student were cheated by a fraudster who ran away with around Rs. 5 Lakh in toto.
The defrauder approached the victims through a social media page, claiming to be the agent of a reputed Dutch fashion firm. The shoot was said to be of three days, with the remuneration being around Rs. 1 Lakh per day, to be paid in Euro.
The meeting was arranged on June 28 at a five star Hotel in Mahipalpur, South Delhi where all the victims met for the first time. They were given separate rooms, and the shoot was postponed to the next day. However, to make the transactions, the con-man took their bank details and asked them to surrender their phones.
“He took the last six digits of their ATM cards, bank account details and asked them to hand over their mobile phones to access passwords for the transaction,” an investigating officer told Times of India.
Later in the night, when one of the girls approached the agent to take back her phone, she found the room locked. The later enquiry established that they had been conned, as the agent’s phone number did not connect anymore.
A case has been registered under Section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of IPC with the Mahipalpur Police Station. A senior officer of Delhi Police told DU Beat, “We are examining the case under various sections of Information Technology Act too, in addition to the IPC sections.”
The CCTV footage of the premises is being examined to establish the identity of the fraudster. The police are also tracking the social media accounts and the phone numbers used in the crime.
A former President of a fashion society, on being approached by our correspondent, said that fake offers keep on popping up in this sector, and all one can do is stay away from these. “We keep on coming across similar cases time and again. The models should definitely be more proactive and look for offers from bonafide sources. The bank details should not be given under any circumstance,” she added.
Feature Image Credits: Geico
Nikhil Kumar
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