Bengaluru: A city software engineer thought it was his lucky day when two men offered to sell him an iPhone and a laptop at a throwaway price of Rs 60,000 while he was on his way home from work on Thursday.
But he was in for a shock as the duo made away with his cash leaving him with merely bricks wrapped in a bright cover.
Mr Venkat Narayana, who lives in HSR Layout II stage, was accosted by the two men on Venkatapura road. Showing him the expensive gadgets, they offered to give them to him at the bargain price, claiming they were badly in need of money.
Seeing that the laptop and iPhone were in good condition, Mr Narayana readily agreed to buy them and going to a nearby ATM withdrew the money they had asked for.
Taking it, the two men gave him a plastic bag, which he assumed had the laptop and iPhone in it, and sped away.
Excited about the deal, Mr. Narayana opened the bag on reaching home only to find bricks inside. He at once rushed to the Madiwala police station and lodged a complaint.
This is not the first time that people have been duped by such conmen in the city. Last year, several gullible techies in HSR Layout, Madiwala, Whitefield and Electronic City were take for a ride in a similar fashion. The police had then arrested three men from Uttar Pradesh for the racket.
The gang appears to have now returned, according to a senior police officer. The police are verifying the CCTV footage from in and around the area to identify the conmen.
