British Woman Duped Of Rs 98 Lakh In Catfish Scam By Friend Of Two Decades

A British woman has been left contemplating suicide after a friend of twenty years catfished her online and managed to drain her life savings, amounting to Rs 98.5 lakh (£92,300). The accused, identified as 33-year-old Sumaiya Khurram posed as a "pretty boy" on WhatsApp, claiming to be in love with the victim and asked for money for treatment of blood cancer at a private clinic, according to a report in the New York Post..

Ms Khurram, who lives in Birmighiman, has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to fraud. The prosecutors told the Birmingham Court that Ms Khurram undertook the "despicable" scam for 20 months before the victim was completely squeezed out of cash.

"This case concerns the defendant catfishing her friend by pretending to be a boy who was in love with her," Andrew Wallace, prosecuting, said.

"She [the victim] was a vulnerable individual who had obvious physical disabilities and who believed that the defendant was her friend. She was inexperienced in the ways of the world."

In a statement, the victim said they had been friends for two decades and that Ms Khurram was aware of her bullying experiences in school.

"She has taken away my health and wealth and I have felt like taking my own life at times," the victim stated.

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The scam

Notably, the scam transpired between 2015 and 2017 when Ms Khurram introduced the victim to someone named Etesham Khan. Exploiting the victim's devout Muslim faith, Ms Khurram convinced her that Mr Khan was interested in meeting and marrying her.

Communications were only done via WhatsApp and included discussions over "how far she would go sexually", the prosecutors informed.

While handing down the sentence, Judge Peter Cooke came down heavily upon Ms Khurram, saying she embarked upon the "wicked scheme" despite knowing how vulnerable her friend was.

"Your families have been on friendly terms for 20 years plus and you have been, or pretended to be, her friend since your teens. You knew all about her, of course, you knew of her physical disabilities and mobility difficulties," said Justice Cooke

“Fifty-two individual payments were extracted from her, to the tune of £92,300, which was either pocketed by you or disseminated amongst members of your family."

The attorney representing the defendant said Ms Khurram had shown remorse for her actions, adding that the offence had been committed many years ago.