Quick cash on matrimonial sites: Watch out for ‘NRIs from the US’

Daughter of former DCP duped of ₹4.31L by accused, who cheated other women too by befriending them online

MUMBAI: On a matrimonial website? Watch out for scamsters who claim to be NRIs to first befriend, and then cheat users of money.

The daughter of a retired deputy commissioner of police (DCP) was recently cheated of ₹4.31 lakh by a man she got to know through one such website.

Vipin Patnikar, alias Abhishek, has used the site to cheat women across the country for months now, the police found, after arresting him in Indore, when he went to that city to collect money from another woman.

Patnikar, who is originally from Hyderabad, used the same website and same method to cheat other women too.

“He would claim to be an NRI based in the USA when he started talking to the women. Later, he would start asking them for money. His reason was always that he was facing financial issues. He promised the women he would return the money at the earliest,” said an officer from the Navghar police station.

Patnikar used the same method when he approached the retried DCP’s daughter Dipti Ramesh Bival.

The police said Patnikar and Bival started chatting on the website, and then speaking on the phone regularly.

“The victim stays as a paying guest in Mulund and worked as a manager in a south Mumbai firm. Patnikar ensured she got comfortable talking to him. He gained her trust and then claimed he needed money for business deals. He told her that if he failed to pay up, he would face huge losses,” said another officer privy to the investigation. Bival agreed to pay him ₹4.31 lakh. The payment was made using internet banking, over multiple transactions. After a point, Patnikar switched off his mobile phone.

When Bival could not get in touch with him, she gave the Navghar police a written application of the complaint, which was then turned into an FIR. Patnikar has been slapped with cases of cheating, under section 420 of the IPC and other relevant sections of the IT Act.

Senior police inspector Madhav More from the Navghar police station confirmed the case and said, “Our team was in Indore to take custody of Patni- kar. A court has said that will hand him over after January 14. The Indore police will bring him to Mumbai.”