Duo duped men on dating app via fake accounts, arrested

NEWDELHI: A man and a woman, who allegedly used a fake account on a dating app to dupe “hundreds” of young men of ₹500-₹1,000, have been arrested after a month-long hunt, police said on Sunday.

Since the duo did not demand more than ₹1,000 from any of their victims, there were no police complaints for nearly 10 months, said Chinmoy Biswal, deputy commissioner of police (south-east). “The victims feared social stigma if they approached the police with a complaint. The loss of a relatively small amount such as ₹500 and ₹1,000 further dissuaded the victims from filing complaints,” said Biswal.

Police identified the male suspect as Chiranjeevi, a 29-year-old unemployed man and refused to reveal the identity of his 19-year-old woman friend. The DCP said Chiranjeevi was paying the woman a daily salary of ₹600 for trapping prospective victims.

The duo was allegedly using e-wallets to seek the money from the victims. The e-wallets were linked to a bank account that was opened using fake documents, said the officer. Five mobile phones and 11 SIM cards were recovered from them.

The crime came to light last month when a woman approached Amar Colony police station to allege that her photo was being used as the profile picture of a dating app. “The woman had been alerted about the misuse by someone known to her. She had contacted the account owner and requested that the photo be pulled down, but Chiranjeevi had refused and dared her,” said the DCP.