Ahmedabad: Who doesn’t like to own an iPhone, especially at a lower price? In one such case, a 31-year-old man from Ghatlodia was allegedly cheated out of ₹1.66 lakh by a woman he befriended on Instagram. The woman had allegedly promised to get him iPhones from Dubai at discounted rates.

The victim, a businessman, befriended a woman named Priyanka Lad from Dubai around three years ago on the social media platform Instagram. Their communication moved from Instagram to WhatsApp, where Lad claimed she would be visiting Ahmedabad and could bring iPhones from Dubai at cheaper prices. Trusting her, the man requested two phones.

Soon after, Lad asked him to pay ₹6,000 for a grocery bill in Mumbai, saying she needed the items for Dubai and would adjust the cost against the phone payment. He complied. Later, she sought a ₹40,000 advance for the phones and convinced him to let her use his credit card to avail discounts in Mumbai. She used it to make a ₹35,000 purchase, followed by another for ₹82,000 — this time for a laptop. In all, the man ended up spending ₹1.66 lakh on gadgets and groceries.

When he inquired about the iPhones, Lad claimed that she had sent the phones by courier, which upon inquiry turned out to have been returned. Further attempts to contact Lad failed — her Instagram account was deleted, and she told him via WhatsApp not to reach out again. The Sola police have registered a case of cheating and breach of trust and launched an investigation. DeshGujarat