Karwar: A civil contractor from Sirsi lost `10.94 lakh in an online fraud case recently.

He lodged a complaint with the district Cyber Crime, Economic Offences and Narcotics (CEN) Police Station in Karwar. As per the complaint, he was assured of gifts by a foreigner female friend. To get those costly gifts, Vinaykumar D Vithalkar, a civil contractor from Sirsi, deposited money in the account of a courier boy, who was allegedly caught by customs officials.

Emili Paul from United Kingdom sent him a friend request on Facebook.

Both of them used to chat on messenger and they also exchanged their WhatsApp numbers. After a few days, she allegedly promised him that she would send a laptop, an Apple iPhone and other valuables worth 45,000 pounds. To get gift items, Vithalkar had transferred `10.94 lakh to the account of a courier boy. Within few days, Vithalkar got a call from a mobile number claiming that he was a courier boy and was caught by customs officials while bringing gift items. The woman also conveyed the same message to Vithalkar.

After getting the money, both courier boy and the woman switched off their mobile phones. The victim lost his money and he did not get any gifts also.