Two friends in Thane cheated of Rs 7.59 lakh in fake Portugal job offer

A case of cheating two friends of Rs 7.59 lakh on the promise of jobs abroad has come to light in Thane, Maharashtra. Police have registered a case against one man. Officials shared the information on Sunday.

The complainant is 38 years old and lives in Kopri Colony, Thane. He alleged that the accused had assured him and a friend of jobs in Portugal, and that the two fell for the promise.

According to a police officer, the accused allegedly took Rs 7.59 lakh from the two between October 20 and 30. The money was sought in the name of necessary paperwork and visa processing.

After some time, the two realised they had been cheated. They then approached the police and filed a complaint.

Police registered the case on Friday on the basis of the complaint, under Section 316(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with criminal breach of trust, and Section 318(4), which deals with cheating. The accused is absconding. Police said a search for him is on.

In a separate case, Mulund police in Mumbai have busted an alleged inter-state cyber fraud gang and arrested six people. Officials said on Thursday that 255 cyber crime cases linked to the gang have been found registered across the country.

According to police, the fraud linked to the bank accounts the gang allegedly used is estimated at about Rs 72 crore.

The investigation began with an accountant working at a private company in Mulund. Police said he was cheated of Rs 10 lakh on July 30, 2026. An unidentified fraudster had made the company owner's photograph his WhatsApp display picture. Posing as the owner, he pressured the employee into transferring money from the company's bank account. A case was registered at Mulund police station under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.

In the investigation, police went through bank transactions and mobile numbers. They found that Rs 5.5 lakh of the cheated amount had gone to a bank account in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. The money was later withdrawn by cheque.

A police officer said, "A special investigation team arrested three suspects in Meerut. Arrests were then made in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, Vadodara in Gujarat and Kandivali in Mumbai as well. With this, the total number of accused arrested rose to six."

Police have recovered Rs 5.5 lakh in cash and five mobile phones. The phones are alleged to have been used in the crime.