Hyderabad: Herbal seeds that, it is claimed, are used in the pharmaceutical industry to produce cancer drugs, are the new lure to dupe the gullible by Nigerian fraudsters. At least three people have filed complaints including one from Hyderabad, claiming a loss of Rs 26 lakh. Another victim from Telangana lost Rs 1.24 crore while the third from Allahabad, an army officer, lost Rs 40 lakh.
According to sources, on Monday, police agencies CCDS mentioned that they have cracked down on a gang operating from Delhi led by Nigerians. “The gang promised huge commission on sale of herbal seeds to US and UK-based pharma companies. The accused used phising and spoofing methods to communicate with the victims, to make them believe that the calls originated from pharma companies in the US and UK, which could be verified by a Google search. The victims offered to mediate between the buyer in the US and UK and the supplier in India,” said a police official.
The fraudsters then asked the victim to come to a specified place and pay a token amount of money for completing the seeds deal. Later, they asked the victims to deposit the money in the accounts rented from local Indians. Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, a software engineer and resident of Bowenpally, who lodged a complaint with the CCS Cyber Crime police, said: “I received a friend request on Facebook from one of the gang members. After trying to befriend me, she claimed to be working for a pharma company and said she needed OTO herbal seeds. To confirm her claim, I called on the UK number given on the website. One of the gang members verified the claim. I lost around Rs 26 lakh. The cheating has been done at three levels. I am told one accused has been arrested so far.” The CCS Cyber Crime police has registered a case of cheating against the Nigerian fraudsters.
