A young IT professional who sold his mobile phone on Tuesday was shocked when he realised the money he had received from the buyer was counterfeit currency notes created by making colour photocopies of 100 rupee notes.
The Ennore police identified the victim as S. Karthikeyan (24), a computer science graduate. A resident of Bhajanai Koil Street in Ernavoor, he had decided to sell his Samsung Note 2 phone and posted the details on the e-commerce website, www.olx.in, with a price tag of Rs. 19,000.
A youngster, who claimed to be a resident from Avadi responded to the advertisement and, along with a young girl, met Karthikeyan on Tuesday night at a poorly lit spot near the Ernavoor bridge. The victim handed over the phone in exchange for the money.
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The suspect paid Kathikeyan Rs. 100 less, citing petrol expenses incurred in travel from Avadi to Ernavoor, the police said.
After arriving back at his house Karthikeyan realised that 181 notes of 100 rupee denomination were copies of currency notes, finely pasted to give the appearance of real notes. A 500 rupee note and three 100 rupee notes were original, the sources added.
“The young man who came on a motorcycle had provided the victim a mobile number which we later found out was that of a man who lost his mobile phone a few months ago and failed to lodge a police complaint. The victim didn’t note down the details of the registration plate of the motorcycle as he didn’t suspect foul play,” K. Anand, inspector of police, Ennore, said.
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A further probe is under way to track the couple and to find out if they had cheated more persons by using online advertisements, the police said.