Thane: A Thane resident working in the Thailand Consulate has filed a complaint claiming some persons he befriended on the internet cheated him of Rs 2.53 crore on the pretext of transferring USD 18 lakh to him, police said on Friday.

The man, along with his wife and two children, had visited Thailand in August 2017, police said. "On his return, he was befriended on Facebook by one Mariam Khurshid. She told the complainant that her late Army officer husband had left USD 18 lakh for her. Since she was having trouble with her brother-in-law who wanted to now marry her, the woman said she wanted to transfer the amount to the complainant and shift to India," an official from Khadakpada police station in Kalyan here said.