Odisha retired government employee honey trapped, loses over Rs 20 lakh

Cuttack: A retired government employee from Odisha’s Cuttack city allegedly lost more than Rs 20 lakh after being honey trapped by a woman who identified herself as Leona Jimmy from Manchester in United Kingdom.

According to Cuttack Additional DCP Anil Mishra, the elderly man befriended with Leona through Facebook in 2018. The woman sent friend request to the complainant. As soon as he accepted the friend request, she started chatting with him and won his trust by identifying herself as a gold merchant.

Additional DCP further said that six months after they became friends, Jimmy contacted the complainant and informed him that she is stuck at the customs in Delhi airport and needed some money to get herself released.

Without suspecting Jimmy, the victim sent her the money, said the official adding that later too he paid her money and thus he has reportedly paid her Rs 20.61 lakh in several installments between 2028 and 2022.

However, the victim got suspicious after the fraudster asked for Rs 57,000 from him and lodged a complaint with Cyber police in Cuttack recently, Mishra said.

Based on the victim’s complaint, the Cyber police started an investigation into the matter.