Online dating is gaining popularity each day. As our country has a lot of young people, the number of people using dating websites is on the rise. A lot of people use dating websites as a medium to find the right match. In order to use dating websites, all you must do is sign up to the website by providing basic information.
After signing up for the website, you can browse through the profiles and contact the users if their profile appeals to you. Unfortunately, not all the profiles on the dating websites are genuine. There are many fake profiles created by fraudsters with the intention of cheating people and making quick money. As the number of people using dating websites increases, dating scams are also on the rise. There have been many incidents in India where people have lost money to online dating scams. In this blog, we will discuss how a techie from Pune lost Rs 37 Lakh to online dating scams.
See Also: Dating online? Beware, you might lose your money
In the case of online dating scams, fraudsters contact users on dating apps through a genuine-looking profile. After gaining the trust of users, fraudsters wipe out money from bank accounts or steal personal information.
A techie found a woman on an online dating site and started chatting with her. He got friendly and shared all his personal details. The woman had told the techie that she was working as a manager with a Private Bank in London.
She also told him that she wanted to start a business in India and would like to visit the country soon. She even sent a copy of her tickets, stating she would be coming to India in two days.
Two days later the victim received a call from a person who introduced himself as a customs official. He was asked if he knew a woman with a particular name. When he said that he knew the lady, he was told that she was stuck at the airport with 10,000 pounds.
Another person then called him (techie) and he was asked to pay money towards Custom Charges, Income Tax, and Goods and Service Tax to release the lady from the custody of the customs. He was also told that he had to avail anti-money laundering certificates.
Believing this to be true, the techie deposited Rs 37 Lakhs without even verifying the details. The money was then transferred to 23 bank accounts. He later got to know that he was duped and filed a complaint with the cybercrime police station. The case was then transferred to the Airport police.
See Also: Beware! Dating app frauds are rising in India
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