Ahmedabad: Gandhinagar Cyber Cell has registered an FIR against a Bengaluru man for allegedly cheating an assistant professor at Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) of Rs 13.4 lakh after befriending her through a matrimonial website, gaining access to her mobile phone and banking credentials, and transferring money to his account while she underwent bariatric surgery.According to the complaint, the 36-year-old professor came in contact with the accused through a matrimonial platform about a year ago. She stopped speaking to him after a few conversations, but he contacted her again through WhatsApp in May this year and gradually won her confidence.The two travelled to Nathdwara in Rajasthan on May 9. After she fell ill during the trip, they returned to Gandhinagar. The accused later persuaded her to undergo bariatric surgery and accompanied her to a private hospital for consultation and admission.Police said the accused learnt the professor’s mobile phone and netbanking passwords after gaining her trust. On May 15, he allegedly helped her create a fixed deposit of Rs 18.15 lakh through her banking app before she was taken into the operation theatre. While she remained admitted after the surgery, he allegedly kept her mobile phone, registered his fingerprint on the device without her knowledge, prematurely broke the fixed deposit, paid nearly Rs 6 lakh towards the surgery and medicine bills, and transferred Rs 12 lakh to his own bank account in four transactions on May 17 and 18.The FIR further states that the accused visited the professor again on May 31 and allegedly transferred another Rs 50,000 from her bank account using her phone. He also allegedly carried out unauthorised transactions of Rs 87,402 on her credit card on June 1 and June 7.The professor detected the fraudulent transactions while checking her bank account, reported the matter on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal on June 11, and later approached Gandhinagar Cyber Cell. Based on her complaint, police registered an FIR for cheating, criminal breach of trust, identity theft, and offences under the Information Technology Act.
