Thane: A 32-year-old diabetic female patient was duped by online fraudsters for over Rs 14 lakh under the pretext of paying taxes related to the diabetes medicine she ordered, which was seized by customs and the Goods and Services Department.

The victim is a diabetes patient who ordered online medicine worth Rs 34,500, and later she was duped of Rs 14 lakh.

The victim was looking for diabetes medicine from a particular company on a specific website. During her search, she received a message that the medicine she wanted was available. Following this, the girl bought the medicine after placing an order and paying Rs 34,500.

The police said that she received a WhatsApp message on her mobile. The message stated that the medicine in her possession was from the Portuguese Customs Department. The unknown persons asked her to pay Rs 20,564 for the registration of the medicine. She paid it to the fraudsters.

She had been duped of over Rs 14 lakh on the pretext of various taxes such as drug insurance, tax and customs, and food and drug administration, including central and state goods and services.

The police said that she again received a message asking her that medicine was ordered by her, it was seized by the Border Security Force and demanded money from her for clearing taxes; she realized that she had been duped by online fraudsters.

Sandeep Dande, a police sub-inspector from the Kapurbawdi police station, said that the victim realized that she had been duped and immediately filed an online complaint against unknown persons. We registered an FIR against the unknow accused on Thursday. The incident occurred between October 1, 2024, and December 12, 2024.