Gangtok, March 7 -- In a concerning case of online fraud, a woman from Gangtok was duped out of Rs 5,35,000 by a scammer she met on Facebook. The fraudster, posing as an Australian national named Raj Khurana, gained the victim's trust through WhatsApp conversations after initiating contact on February 17.

On February 22, the scammer falsely claimed to have arrived in India but was detained at the airport due to incomplete documentation. Under the pretense of needing financial assistance for his release, he manipulated the victim into transferring the substantial amount. It was only later that she realized she had fallen prey to a scam and promptly reported the incident to the Sadar Police Station. Authorities have since launched an inves...