The Cyber Crime Police have arrested a Nigerian national on charge of duping four people from the city to the tune of ₹4 lakh by posting fake advertisements on an e-commerce classified portal.

Modus operandi

The accused have been identified as Chuks John (31), who lives in Bengaluru. Cyber Crime Police Station Inspector V. Gopinath said that John allegedly duped the victims promising to sell SUV cars and bikes.

One victim came across an advertisement for sale of a few months old SUV with a price tag of ₹4 lakh, posted on an e-commerce protal in September last year. The victim called the mobile number mentioned in the advertisement. The fraudster allegedly asked him to deposit ₹2.5 lakh as advance payment through online bank transaction, Mr. Gopinath said.

Falling prey to the bait, the victim transferred the money to the account suggested by the fraudster.

Similarly, another person deposited more than ₹50,000 as advance in the same account to purchase the vehicle.

Weeks after the advance payments were made, the victims realised that they had been duped and approached the police. Acting on the complaints lodged by the victims, we investigated the case and came to know that John was the mastermind of the fraud, Mr. Gopinath added.

The Nigerian national was arrested in Bengaluru, he said, adding that further investigation is on.