Matrimonial ads duping women on the rise
SCAM Women on matrimonial sites are being targeted by a network of people whose aim is to extort money
The foreign nationals have a nexus with some local people, who pose as customs/airport security officials. They use virtual SIMS and mostly communicate on Whatsapp. The use of a foreign accent helps sell their backstory of having moved abroad.
GURUGRAM: Minakshi, 38, a resident of Sector 54, signed up on a matrimonial site in January this year. In July, she met a man who identified himself as ‘Dr Leo Rudra, the chief of surgery at a hospital in Bedfordshire, England’.
His profile stated that he earned ₹70 lakh to a crore annually. “He had posted pictures of himself at a hospital with other doctors. He was charming and introduced me to his mother. I spoke to her over the phone. He said that he wanted to settle down here and open a hospital. He shared his hopes and dreams with me. After two weeks of chatting with me, he said that he was flying to India and even sent me the tickets. It all seemed real and I was looking forward to settling down with him,” she said.
Minakshi, who withheld her last name, received a call on August 6 from a person, ostensibly from the customs department of the Mumbai Airport, informi ng her t hat Leo had been detained as he was carrying £1,50,000—higher than the allowed limit. “The customs official asked me to pay ₹48,300 for him to be released. I asked the person if I could speak to him but he said that he was under a lot of stress and would be deported soon. I was also told that he is carrying foreign currency and gifts. His mother sent me a text saying he did not know anyone in India and sought my help. I was shaken up, so I transferred the money online. An hour or so later, I got another call asking for ₹1.15 lakh. I suspected something fishy and went to the police,” she said.
Minakshi, who is a teacher, said that though she felt cheated, she continued to engage with men on the websites with similar fake profiles to understand the con. “Since then, at least three men— all claiming to be working in the Uk—have expressed interest in marrying me and settling down in India. Two of them used the same ‘stuck at the airport’ story and demanded money,” she added.
“I will continue my own investigation till these people are arrested,” she said.
Minakshi now claims to be the daughter of a business tycoon in her correspondence with suspects on the matrimonial website. “I also sell them a story now to trap them. Recently, when I told a so-called doctor on the website that I am from a rich family and look after our family business, he agreed to settle down here and open hospitals. He said that his consignment from China would soon arrive in Mumbai. Then, I got a call from a courier firm in Mumbai, asking me to pay ₹5.5 lakh for the courier,” she said.
“He also sent me the shipment receipt number. But, I knew better this time and told him that I could pay only cash in person. The calls stopped immediately.”
While Minakshi tries to work towards unmasking as many of these con men as possible, the number of matrimonial frauds in the city continues to rise. According to data, till August 20, 47 instances of cheating through matrimonial websites were reported to the police this year. Since then six more such cases have been reported.
THE MODUS OPERANDI Minakshi’s case is not the only cautionary tale; several people in the city have fallen victim to con men on matrimonial websites in the past few months. Unsuspecting women looking for a match online are targeted by a network of people whose aim is to extort money. The con men create a profile on popular matrimonial websites using fake pictures and paint an image of a professional settled abroad, interested in marrying a woman in India. Within weeks of small talk and wooing over the phone, the fraudster tells the woman that he would be taking a flight to India to meet her family and plan their future. On the day of his alleged flight, he concocts a story of being detained at the airport and in need of help. An ‘official at the customs department’ contacts the woman, threatening her to pay a fee to avoid his deportation.
Investigators probing cybercrime cases said that in most cases of fraud through matrimonial websites, the first part of the crime involved establishing trust. “The suspects use virtual SIMS and share details of their job profile, pay, and family over Whatsapp. They express interest in returning from abroad to the hometown of the woman and share fake pictures with her. They sell her grand ideas of setting up a business in India and settling down with her,” an investigator, requesting anonymity, said.
The police said that the persons posing as officials from customs used several tactics to entrap people.
“The impersonator uses a local number and tries to empathise with the victim. He/she tells the victim that their friend has not eaten anything since morning and they were bound by laws to detain them. They threaten to deport and blacklist the person. In certain cases, the victim receives a phone call from a person, who poses as the mother of the detained person, asking them to pay the money. In return, they are promised a part of foreign currency or jewellery that has been confiscated,” a police officer said.
The police said that the victim is also asked to send the money in chunks to several bank accounts. “During the whole airport shtick, the mobile phone of the allegedly detained person is kept switched off to create fear in the mind of the victim,” the police officer quoted above said.
The victim is asked to pay money on the pretext of courier fees, conversion charges, drug clearance fees, anti-terrorist clearance charges, etc., to secure the release of their ‘friend’.
MATRIMONIAL FRAUD FOR DUMMIES
Investigators said that in several cases being probed with a similar modus operandi by the cybercrime police, the involvement of foreign nationals is suspected.
“The foreign nationals have a nexus with some local people, who pose as customs/airport security officials. They use virtual SIMS and mostly communi
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*Police started filing FIRS after a dedicated cyber crime cell was made in 2018
Complaints of ‘cheating through matrimonial websites’ reported this year till Aug 20 AUGUST 30:
A woman was allegedly duped of ~3 lakh by a man, who had introduced himself as an orthopaedic doctor on a matrimonial website. The man cheated her after concocting a story of financial difficulty. AUGUST 27
A 25-year-old woman was duped of ~5.98 lakh by a man who claimed to be a pilot from UK and promised to purchase a house for ~2 crore in Delhi and marrying her.
SEPTEMBER 2:
A woman working at an automobile company was duped of ~13.72 lakh after a man, who claimed to be settled abroad, told her he was coming to India to meet her and asked her for financial
assistance.
Do not share personal information, photographs or any bank account information with unknown people online.
Try and establish a person’s identity (from a website) by meeting them, before sharing any personal information.
cate on Whatsapp. The use of a foreign accent helps sell their backstory of having moved abroad. None of the victims had talked with the suspects over a video call. So, they did not realise that their pictures were fake and lifted from social media,” an investigator said.
Karan Goel, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), DLF, said they had arrested two Nigerian nationals in fraud cases through matrimonial websites this year.
In one of those cases, a woman had been approached by a man on a matrimonial website, who made up a story of financial trouble and asked her to give ₹4 lakh to his friend, a Nigerian national, since he was abroad. After the police were informed, a trap was laid and the accomplice was arrested. In a hard disk recovered from the Nigerian national, the police found tutorial videos on communication tips and hacks to trap people.
“People should be wary of fraud through these websites. The fraudsters lure people, promising gifts or investment in a business venture. These are all red AUGUST 21
A 40-year-old man was arrested for allegedly conning at least two women via a matrimonial website. He had concocted a story about suffering a financial loss and taken ~7.5 lakh and ~6.78 lakh from the two women. SEPTEMBER 9: An MNC employee transferred ~3.91 lakh to a bank account after a man, claiming to be from UK, said he was stuck at the airport on his way to her.
FIRS related to matrimonial fraud registered in 45 days AUGUST 13
A woman was allegedly duped by a man who claimed to be detained at the airport with £1,50,000 and required ~48,300. She transferred the money online before realising she had been duped.
In case you suspect fraud, save messages, pictures and screenshots which can be used later as evidence.
Use video calls for correspondence to match the description and photo of the suitor from the website.
flags. People must realise that there is no such thing as a free lunch,” ACP Goel said.
THE CHARM OFFENSIVE The police said some con men relied on their charm to cheat women.
Shalini, who works with a multinational company in the city, had been looking for a suitor on a matrimonial website for over six months.
In June, she received a request from a man, who expressed interest in her, saying he was “smitten and had fallen in love” with her. He claimed to work in the urban planning sector in Manchester, United Kingdom.
Over the next few days, they exchanged numbers and started talking over the phone. He told her that he had moved to England when he was five-years-old with his mother, and his family now wanted him to marry a woman from India.
Not long after, he told her that he had booked flight tickets to India. On June 6, Shalini got a call from a woman, who claimed to be from aviation security at the
INVESTIGATOR
Mumbai Airport.
The ‘security official’ told her that she would have to pay a penalty fee to secure her friend’s release or he would be deported to England.
“She told me that he was carrying more than 44kg of luggage, which was not allowed, and asked me to pay ₹55,680, as his debit card was not working. After 30 minutes, she called again saying that he was also carrying gold jewellery and ₹1.16 lakh was required to be paid as remittance or he would be blacklisted. She told me that he had not eaten anything for several hours,” she said.
After an hour, the security official informed her that her friend also had £85,000 and she would have to pay ₹3.75 lakh as the conversion charge. “I told the lady that I did not have the amount required. She said that she understood the problem and offered to pitch in with ₹80,000. So, I borrowed ₹2.2 lakh from friends and transferred the money,” she said.
After the money was transferred, the mobile phones of her friend and the ‘security official from the airport’ were switched off. Shalini had transferred ₹3.91 lakh before she suspected that she may have been conned.
INVESTIGATIVE CHALLENGES
Sandeep (known by his first name only), the investigating officer in one of the cases, said that fraud cases through matrimonial websites were being reported in the Delhi-ncr area and several north Indian states. “The con men target educated professionals in metro cities in the age group of 25-40 on the websites. They entice them with gifts (jewellery, foreign currency) and the promise of moving abroad. Several cases go unreported as the victims refuse to pursue the cases due to social pressure and embarrassment,” he said.
The police said they face several challenges in tracing the suspects. “Bank accounts where the money has been transferred by victims have been opened using fake documents. The SIM numbers have al so been t aken through fake identity documents, which makes it difficult to trace them,” an official, requesting anonymity, said.
ASI Sandeep said, “People on these websites should take certain precautions, such as talking over video chat or trying and meeting the suitors in person. It is also advisable to not share any objectionable picture or video on social media, as the con men use them to blackmail victims to extort money.”
HT reached out to two matrimonial websites named by the victims in their complaints to the police and both declined to comment.