Matrimonial sites turn easy pickings for fraudsters

City cybercrime sleuths have warned those who are looking for matrimonial alliances on myriad websites. With the pandemic forcing people to keep a tight rein on their lifestyles, aspiring brides are increasingly falling prey to cyber fraudsters.

There have been several cases of late, where women are cheated by cyber conmen who lure them promising to marry and later cheating them of huge amounts of money. The cybercrooks’ modus operandi is to take vulnerable women into confidence by posting advertisements on matrimonial sites. After promising to marry them, the fraudsters extract money in the name of customs clearance for their gifts at airports. Once they manage to get money, they delete the profiles from the sites and vanish into thin air.

According to cybercrime officials, the women targeted are in their late 20’s, middleaged or divorcees.

“My family and I were searching for grooms online for me when we came across a profile where a man claimed that he was 30-yearold hailing from Lucknow and residing in Delhi. Believing him, we approached him with the proposal. We exchanged phone numbers and started making calls. Over a period of time, we became close and involved in late night calls and texts. He said as he had recently quit his job and was in need of cash and convinced me to send him lump sum amounts over a few months,” recalls a 26-yearold victim from Kukatpally.

Single mothers and single women in their middle-age are the most vulnerable. “Most victims are divorcees, widows or unmarried women in their 30s and 40s. The scamsters pretend to be younger than the victims and claim to be MNC employees or NRIs. They provide emotional support and send gifts to impress them and gain trust. Single women, who do not have elders to verify or check the background of prospective grooms they meet online, might get persuaded,” said an investigator of matrimony fraud cases.

Men too have faced such incidents wherein women masqueraded as damsel in distress to dupe them. In February, 2021, K. Swathi alias Archana alias Indira Priyadarshini, an MBA graduate and the wife of a lecturer in Nellore, was arrested by the Rachakonda Cybercrime Police on charges of duping NRI men seeking suitable alliances on matrimonial sites. The police seized `5.1 lakh, four mobile phones and other material from her.

As the ‘terms and conditions’ posted by the websites state that it is the user’s responsibility, the police say it is not possible to take action against websites. Cybercrime Police say none of the matrimonial websites has methods to verify the authenticity of an accountholder.