A 23-year-old Nigerian has been arrested in India for allegedly duping a woman of Rs 71 lakh by pretending to be a wealthy foreigner.

Obuh Marvellous Uche was arrested by Cyber Crime Cell of Bhopal police from New Delhi after the victim’s brother lodged a complaint with the cyber police.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Bhopal Irshad Wali said that Uche used to talk to MP-based woman Preeti Sharma on social networking sites.

He promised to send her an expensive gift worth Rs 1 crore in a parcel.

The accused sent a gift to the unsuspecting victim and then she received a call from a person who said he was a delivery agent.

He then said that he was caught by customs officials at the airport and since the gift was so expensive it needed customs clearance.

She was also told to have violated the rules and that she has to pay a clearance charge or fine to receive it,” DIG Wali said.

She was threatened that if the amount was not paid, the sender as well receiver of this gift would be sent to jail on charges of Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Anti Terrorism Act.

Once the victim transferred the money in 13 different bank accounts in name of parcel delivery charge, anti-money laundering fees and other taxes, the accused told the victim that she could not receive the gift directly. She was further asked to convert her savings account into a special account.

However, later the accused disappeared and switched off all his mobiles, he said.

The accused used profile pictures and information of doctors, engineers and fashion designers living abroad to create new identities to con his victims.

The accused used to target single women around the age of 30 and divorcees,” he added.

According to the police, the accused might have conned several women using this modus operandi, therefore, he will be produced in the court.