Honey-trapped Odisha man loses Rs 20 lakh to fraudster, complaint lodged

Honey-trapped Odisha man loses Rs 20 lakh to fraudster, complaint lodged

By Shrikanta Panda

Cuttack, June 19: An elderly man in Cuttack, Odisha allegedly lost more than Rs 20 lakh to a foreign fraudster after he was reportedly honey-trapped by a woman who identified herself as Leona Jimmy.

As per reports, Leona had befriended the complainant through Facebook in 2018 and honey-trapped him. Later she called the victim and said that she was stuck at the customs in Delhi airport and needed money to get herself released.

The unsuspecting man paid Leona Rs 20.61 lakh in several installments before finally coming to the terms that he had actually been duped.

“The fraudster has taken at least Rs 20 lakh from his account. When the fraudster again asked for Rs 57,000 from him. He got suspicious and reported it to the police. We have registered a case in this connection under several IPC sections,” said Cuttack Additional DCP (deputy commissioner of police), Anil Mishra.

“Their friendship was built on Facebook after the woman sent a friend request to the complainant. The fraudster honey-trapped him after regular chatting which was the reason he sent him money without verifying her actual identity and whether she is actually stuck at the airport customs,” said DCP Mishra.