• September 14, 2020

Beware: Scamster from Britain “Maria Smith” tries to cheat Keralite but check who had the last laugh

Riyas Kundamangalam from Kerala is a noted sculptor 

By A Staff Reporter

LONDON Sept 14: We hear about various types of online scams every day. However, now a new scam has surfaced from Britain to cheat a Keralite. There are many people who get acquainted with the web through social media. Many of these people only realize the fact that they have been scammed after losing money.
Here we have a story from a noted sculptor Riyas Kundamangalam from Kerala who was approached by his Facebook friend from Britain by the name of Maria Smith with an offer which he couldn’t believe.

Riyaz says that Maria Smith, a Facebook friend, set the stage for the betrayal by establishing a friendship through Whatsapp chats for a few days. Their friendship grew until one day Maria said that she would offer Riyaz a gift on the day of her son’s birthday.

Riyaz thought it would be any small gift when she said that she would give him a great gift for her son’s birthday.

Maria Smith later messaged Riyaz that she has sent a large consignment of gifts by courier to Riyaz’s address in Kerala. Maria send Riyaz pictures of the gifts she has couriered with receipts that wouldn’t give any reasons for doubts.

The gifts included two gold chains of the 916 carat, a bracelet of the 916 carat, two watches from the Rolex, an iPhone 6, an Apple laptop, a spray, and a picture of her packing £55,000 in an envelope.

Though Riyaz was surprised by seeing the gift, his mind said that the deception was hidden.

Riyz checked out all the receipts and courier details and all looked genuine and there wasn’t any reason for doubts. Riyaz played the waiting game to see how this all would pan out.

Soon another message came in from Maria Smith. This time the message said that the courier company in India need to be paid Rs38,600 for the gifts to be released. Maria said that although she agreed to pay the amount the courier company in India wouldn’t accept money from her and therefore she asked Riyaz to pay the money and take the gifts which included £55,000.

Riyaz soon realised that there is foul play. He messaged Maria that he didn’t have the money but Maria asked him to borrow the money and he could repay it from the £55,000 coming to him as gift.

Riyaz soon realised another way of resolving the issue with the Rs38,600. He messaged Maria saying that he will give his account number and asked Maria to transfer the money to him so that he can pay the Rs38,600. A furious “Maria Smith” blocked Riyaz from all social media contacts and possibly already laid the bait for another prey, possibly not a Keralite anymore.