The Modus Operandi In Relationship App Scams

The rip-off is now at play in a number of key cities, together with Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. (Representational)

New Delhi:

A civil service aspirant from Delhi, whose date with a girl he met on a relationship app resulted in a Rs 1.20 lakh invoice at a restaurant, is simply one of many many circumstances of ‘Tinder rip-off’ that has change into rampant in main cities. Most of those circumstances go unreported as a result of the victims don’t need their households to know they’re on a relationship app.

A number of posts on Reddit, a few of them a 12 months outdated, narrate accounts of people that had been scammed into paying exorbitant quantities throughout dates with ladies they met on relationship apps. Whereas NDTV can’t confirm the authenticity of every of those apps, they level to a standard modus operandi.

How Is The Sufferer Lured

The sufferer matches with the lady on a relationship app resembling Tinder, Bumble, Hinge and OKCupid. She readily shares her WhatsApp quantity they usually get speaking. Quickly, a date is deliberate. The girl then insists that they meet at a selected locality and that there are various cafes and pubs there. When the sufferer asks the title of the cafe for instructions, the lady tells him to fulfill at a selected Metro station and that they’ll go from there.

On the cafe, the lady locations the order. Wanting to impress his date, the sufferer normally doesn’t suspect any foul play. Thereafter, the lady orders one thing that is probably not on the menu. In some case, the lady fakes an emergency and leaves the cafe in a rush. When the invoice comes, the sufferer realises it’s a number of instances of what he had estimated. On protesting, he’s threatened by the cafe workers or bouncers. Left with little alternative, he pays. Most individuals don’t method the police as a result of a probe might divulge to his household that he’s assembly individuals by way of a relationship app.

Many Gamers Concerned

Within the newest Delhi incident that focused an IAS aspirant, police have arrested the cafe’s proprietor Akshay Pahwa and the sufferer’s ‘date’ Afsan Parveen. Police mentioned this rip-off thrives on an elaborate mechanism involving a number of gamers — cafe homeowners, managers and ladies who lure the goal.

Every participant has a reduce: Akshay Pahwa informed police that 15 per cent of the invoice goes to the lady, 45 per cent is split between the managers and the remaining 40 per cent to the homeowners.

In his account, a Reddit consumer has mentioned his ‘date’ randomly ordered some firecrackers that jacked up the invoice to over Rs 40,000.

Obtained Scammed for 45k on Tinder
byu/FinestGold indelhi

“Some couple was burning anar firecracker indoors… The lady insisted that we must also do it. I mentioned no, perhaps 100 instances. She nonetheless ordered it, burned it. I did not take part. After this, I misplaced my curiosity and referred to as for the invoice. I calculated it in my thoughts to be 7-10k. If she splits, then okay else, I’ll pay and simply go away. Boy, was I mistaken? The invoice got here at 45k… These anar firecrackers had been of 2k every x15 = 30k,” he has mentioned. One other consumer mentioned that after he was scammed, he realised that the person on the subsequent desk was a sufferer too.

Not Simply Delhi

This rip-off is in play at main cities, together with Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, police mentioned throughout its investigation into the Rajouri Backyard incident concentrating on the IAS aspirant. Earlier this month, activist Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj posted on X a few related racket working in Hyderabad.

## HYDERABAD DATING SCAM ALERT ##

◾1 membership, completely different names, day by day trapping
◾3 males scammed by identical lady reached out
◾8 victims in contact, scammed at identical membership
◾Entice laid by Tinder, Bumble
◾Invoice quantities of 20-40K@hydcitypolice@TelanganaDGP@TelanganaCOPs@zomatopic.twitter.com/06xtRp6fHO

— Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj (@DeepikaBhardwaj) June 6, 2024

The victims’ accounts revealed that the identical membership was working below three completely different names and the identical lady was reaching out to a number of individuals on relationship apps and luring them to the pub. The sufferer would order a number of pictures and the invoice would go as much as over Rs 20,000. In some circumstances, it was as excessive as Rs 40,000. The victims, normally, don’t file a police criticism or write about it on social media as a result of they need to keep nameless. The scamsters transfer to the subsequent goal.

Ladies Targets Too

It is not simply males who’re changing into targets on relationship apps. Earlier this month, Delhi Police arrested two males for befriending ladies on relationship apps and allegedly robbing them at their properties, PTI has reported.

The police recognized the accused as Vijay Kumar Kamal (28) and Rahul (35). The matter got here to gentle on Could 31 when a 35-year-old lady filed a criticism {that a} man, who launched himself as Jatin on a relationship app, robbed her in her home, senior police officer Ankit Singh mentioned. The sufferer informed the police that she and Jatin (Vijay Kumar Kamal) used to speak over messages earlier than he and Rahul visited her home on Could 30. They tied her arms, taped her mouth and assaulted her, Singh mentioned. “Each robbed her gold ornaments, cell phone, and Rs 5,000 money and fled, the officer mentioned. “With the arrest of the accused, a complete of 4 circumstances had been labored out of Dabri, Dwarka North, south Rohini, and north Rohini of the identical nature. Additional interrogation is underway to search out out different victims, if any.”