Beware when looking for bride/groom online
Several businesses have been impacted by the pandemic, but one that stands unaffected, come what may, is matchmaking. Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown have resulted in a spike in the usage of virtual mediums and in the number of visitors on matrimony portals. But, those keen to find a life partner have reportedly come across fake groups, more so since the virus hit!
Quite a few social media users from Delhi-NCR have written about how they were conned by fake matrimony groups, who claim to provide help in finding you a prospective bride or groom, but vanish once they extract money. Take for instance Mamta Aggarwal, a Gurugram resident who was approached by the representative of one such marriage alliance groups. “I got a call from a girl named Gauri, who shared profiles of some boys for my daughter through WhatsApp. We liked a few of them, so we told her about our interest. She told us we need to first deposit some money in her account, only then will she be able to take the conversation forward. We did insist for at least a conference call with one of the boys, but she vehemently refused! So, we deposited the amount. But, the prospective grooms she shared with us didn’t respond, then she also stopped answering our queries! We were duped of ₹3,500,” she rues.
When Aggarwal posted about this incident on social media, others on her timeline also started sharing similar experiences. Priya Gupta, a Delhiite, wrote: “We get calls from various fake matrimonial groups, and they share profiles from Facebook, asking for a deposit to connect us with the family. The numbers shared by them are also fake. Please beware!” This post saw about 60 user comments, sharing the same problem.
Such groups have also been found, at times, creating fake profiles. Kamal Sharma, a Faridabad-based businessman, says, “On a closed Facebook group, a boy shared that he is Delhi-based, earns ₹18-20 lakh per annum, and looking for an educated girl, so those interested can send profiles to him on messenger. I was just about to share my daughter’s profile when she asked me to check his Facebook profile first. I was shocked to see that it had just one profile picture, and that too of Batman! No other details at all... This means someone was trying to gather profiles of girls looking for prospective grooms. I’m sure a lot of users would have sent him bios without verifying.”
Mukesh Choudhary, a cyber security expert, tells us, “Such cases are called advance fee fraud, wherein a person takes money for some work and doesn’t respond; legal action can be taken. Such cases come to notice, not just through social media profiles but also via popular marriage portals. One should use common sense before reverting to such calls and social media posts.”