A jeweller was allegedly tricked into believing he had received a payment of around ₹1 lakh for the sale of a gold wristlet that a man purchased from his store on Sunday, only to later realise that the payment confirmation text message was fake.

The fraudster, who had come posing as a customer, fled with the gold wristlet by then, police said.

The incident was reported at NCP Jewellers on Green Avenue in Santoshpur on Sunday.

According to the complaint lodged by the store owner, Subir Paul, 49, a man posing as a customer approached the store and started looking for wristlets. He selected one costing ₹94,000.

“The man offered to make a UPI transaction but pretended that the payment had
failed. Then he asked for the store owner’s phone number, saying he was asking his wife to make the payment instead. A few minutes later, the store owner received a text message saying that ₹94,000 had been credited to his account,” said an officer of Survey Park police station.

Believing the payment had been made, the store owner allowed the alleged imposter, who introduced himself as Vikram Singh, to walk away with the gold jewellery.

It was only later that night that the store owner realised the money had not been credited to his bank account.

Paul reported the matter to Survey Park police station, providing the address details the buyer had furnished at the time of purchase.

The police said that upon verifying the address, it was found to be fictitious.

A senior officer of the East division of Kolkata Police said efforts were underway to track the fraudster using the phone number from which the text message was sent to the store owner.

No arrests had been made till Tuesday evening.

Police sources said this was a new type of fraud, where the victim is made to believe that money has been credited to their account through a fraudulent text message sent to their phone.

Sources also said the cyber crime unit of the East Division might be involved in the investigation.

Several police officers warned that jewellers, especially those doing brisk business during the festive season, should be cautious of online crimes as well as crimes involving physical harm.

Last week, on October 4, a jeweller was killed by a group of men who entered a store in Baranagar, first posing as customers, then overpowering the store owner with chilli powder before killing him and robbing the store.