A probe was on, he said, adding that no person was arrested so far. (Representational)
A 53-year-old retired Army officer from Thane city in Maharashtra has been allegedly duped of Rs 40,000 in a fraud on WhatsApp, police said on Tuesday.
In his police complaint, the man said he got a missed call on his WhatsApp number on December 6. When he dialled that number, the call did not get through, so he sent a message on it, an official at Kasarwadavli police station in Thane said.
The person on the other side then replied to the message, saying he was the retired army officer's friend and identified himself as Col. Harpal Singh.
The person stated in his message that he and his wife were in the US and his sister-in-law had a heart ailment and needed some money, the official said.
He further said that since he was in the US, he could not transfer money to his sister. He also gave an account number to the victim to transfer money.
Believing the message was from his friend, the retired army officer promptly transferred Rs 40,000 to the specified account.
However, when he got more messages from the same number asking for an additional Rs 20,000, he got suspicious and called his friend on his mobile number.
When the man inquired about the money, his friend said he never asked for it and that he was not in the US, but at Faridkot in Punjab, the official said.
The man then realised he was cheated. He filed a police complaint on Monday, the official said, adding that a case has been registered under Indian Penal Code Section 420 (cheating) and provisions of the Information Technology Act.
A probe was on, he said, adding that no person was arrested so far.