Mumbai: A 37-year-old widow from Andheri (West), employed as a domestic helper, filed a complaint with the West Cyber police station that a man posing as a London-based doctor befriended her online, promised marriage and induced her to transfer money for purported customs charges on expensive gifts.
Cyber police registered an FIR against the scammer, who identified himself as Jack Jeny and sent the complainant a Facebook friend request in Dec 2025. “Between Feb 11 and May 30, the complainant transferred Rs 18 lakhs, which she had saved through her earnings and even took out a loan to pay customs duty for the gifts. A total of 28 fund transfers were done before she realised that she was duped,” said the police. On Feb 8, he allegedly told the complainant during a video call that he had sent gifts for her and her daughter. She subsequently transferred amounts ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 1 lakh to different bank accounts provided by the callers. She was later asked to pay another Rs 3 lakh but did not transfer it after becoming suspicious,” said a West Cyber police officer. She contacted cybercrime helpline 1930 and approached Cyber Police, seeking legal action against Jeny, the callers and bank account holders for alleged cheating. A total of 26 gift fraud cases have been registered in 2026 (till Aug), and four cases were solved and three people were arrested, according to Mumbai police. In 2025, a total of 46 cases were registered, with five arrests and five cases solved. In 2024, a total of 64 cases were registered in Mumbai with eight solved and seven arrested.
The next day, callers claiming to represent Customs said a parcel had arrived at Mumbai airport and threatened police action if she failed to collect it. “Jeny allegedly told her the parcel contained a laptop, mobile phone, clothes, gold and medicines, and asked her to pay customs charges. After she accepted it, they began chatting regularly and later communicated on WhatsApp .