HYDERABAD: A couple looking to sell their kidneys to clear their debts were duped of Rs 40 lakh by the fraudsters posing as UK-based facilitators for the organ sale.
The victims were,
M Venkatesh
and
Lavanya from Khairatabad. The couple operate a stationary shop in the city and recently took loan from financial institutions for construction of a four-storey building at Katedan.
"Due to lockdown there was no significant income from the business and the borrowed money for house construction reached Rs 1.5 crore," cyber crime
ACP KVM Prasad
said.
To clear the debts, the couple thought of selling their kidneys and looked for prospective buyers on the internet.
"In March 2021, the victims sent a message to a fraudster, whose number they found on the internet, looking for a kidney donor. Posing as an employee of a hospital in the
UK
, the fraudster offered Rs 5 crore for kidney donors and lured the victims into a trap," the
ACP
said.
The accused made the victim deposit Rs 26 lakh in various bank accounts for registration charges, processing fee, currency exchange charges, visa fee and insurance.
The fraudster sent a webpage link containing RBI's logo and fictitious escrow account showing money transferred by him as an advance payment. To convince the accused further, the fraudster made the victims meet an associate of his in a lodge at Bengaluru.
"The African national whom the victims met in Bangalore, showed them a suitcase containing black papers cut into the size of currency notes. The accused wiped some of the black notes using an unknown chemical and turned them into Rs 2,000 currency notes. By promising supply of the chemical which can turn the entire lot of black currency notes into Rs 2,000 notes, the accused made the victims transfer Rs 14 lakh more," the ACP said.
Finally, when the specially ordered unknown chemical failed to convert the black paper into Rs 2,000 notes, and the accused continued to ask for more money, the victims lodged a complaint with cyber crime police on Tuesday.