Nigerian held by Hyderabad police for duping Rs 18 lakhs on pretext of expensive gifts

HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police (CCS) Detective Department nabbed a Nigerian national, Amuluonye Prince Felix, for allegedly scamming a Hyderabad woman of nearly Rs 18 lakhs under the guise of a marriage proposal.

The accused has been identified as Amuluonye Prince Felix(50), who hails from Lagos, Nigeria and runs a clothing business in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Police said the accused approached the victim on a Telugu matrimonial site where he introduced himself as Varun Rao, a civil engineer settled in the USA.

According to police, the two exchanged phone numbers and began conversing over Watsapp. When Felix acquired the complainant's trust, he promised to send a gifts from the United States as a token of their friendship. He added that he was sending gold ornaments, US dollars, and expensive phones in the gift bundle.

On June 1, 2022, the complainant received a call from the customs department of Delhi Airport stating that she had received a gift parcel containing valuable items and that in order to claim the gift parcel, the complainant must pay certain charges such as money laundering charges, income tax charges, anti-terrorism charges, GST etc.

According to the scammers' instructions, the complainant paid them in instalments of Rs. 18 lakhs. Felix was apprehended by the Cyber Crime Police in Greater Noida, NCR, Delhi.

According to the police investigation, Amulyans Prince Felix arrived in India on a business visa in 2012 and remained in the country even after his visa expired. He devised an online crime with the support of his friends, in which he created fake profiles on multiple matrimonial agencies, sent requests to innocent unmarried women using foreign numbers, and introduced himself as an Non-Resident Indians(NRI).

He used mobile numbers starting with +44 and +1 to call victims. He used to defraud victims by promising valuable gifts such as gold jewellery, mobile phones, laptop computers, and cash as a sign of their friendship. He extorted large sums from the victims on various charges claiming that his parcels were stuck in the airport due to legal issues. The police seized three laptop computers, eight mobile phones, 10 sim cards, and two debit cards from Felix's hands.

The Hyderabad police has warned the public not to accept bogus matrimonial requests from overseas alliances without verification. The authorities also advised against transferring money for customs tax or other charges such as money laundering, RBI charges, etc.