This doctor from the town of Meerut, in Uttar Pradesh in northern India, was scammed by con artists who sold him a fakeAladdin lamp.
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A £150,000 magic lamp
As reported by NDTV, an Indian doctor was sold a magic lamp for the modest sum of £150,000. The object, an ‘Aladdin lamp,’ was supposed to contain a genie that would bring him ‘wealth, health, and good fortune.’
The con artists managed to extort an advance of £30,000 from the man. This is a fortune in a country where the average per capita income is around £100 per month! He claims that these con artists with highly developed imaginations brainwashed him.
A man disguised as Aladdin
The criminals pushed the deception so far as to disguise one of their own as Aladdin... The scam is one that is often used by con artists in India.
They made him believe that the magic lamp belonged to a baba, an Indian spiritual master who sometimes claims to be divine, and gradually brainwashed him. According to a local police official, ‘the same men deceived many families’ in the city.
Despite the embarrassment, the doctor finally filed a complaint on October 25th and the crooks were quickly arrested. They will soon be tried for extortion. These geniuses and their ‘genie’ will soon end up behind bars…
