Man befriends woman on matrimonial site, dupes her of Rs 7.13L in Ulhasnagar near Mumbai

He told her that the gift was stuck in the custom and asked her to pay Rs 7.13 lakh in a bank account. The woman paid the amount but she never got the gift.

Anamika Gharat, HT, 12.09.20: A woman has been duped of Rs.7.13 lakh by a man on the pretext of sending her gifts from abroad. The woman befriended the man on an online matrimonial site.

The Ulhasnagar Central police are investigating the matter.

The woman, 36, works in a private company and is in a good position. She created her account on a matrimonial site a few months ago. She got a request from the accused, who used Rajnish Chaudhary as his name, and told her that he was settled abroad.

An officer from Ulhasnagar central police station, said, “They both started chatting and became friends in 20 days. The woman who didn’t want to settle outside India refused the marriage proposal. The man then asked her to accept an expensive gift which he would be sending her. Later he told her that the gift was stuck in the custom and asked her to pay Rs 7.13 lakh in a bank account. The woman paid the amount but she never got the gift. She finally reached the police station on Thursday to file a case against the unknown person. We have registered a case under IPC and cyber law.”

Related: 
PTI, August 20, 2020 : A 33-year-old woman from Maharashtra's Palghar district was allegedly cheated of ₹ 3.80 lakh by a man she met on a matrimonial website, police said.
An employee of a private firm, the victim came in contact with UK-based Bavin Deve Gouda on a Marathi matrimonial website in July, an official said.

The accused had allegedly told the victim that he will be travelling to Mumbai to meet her and he was sending her a gift through a courier service, the official said.

The victim was later allegedly informed by the accused that the parcel was held up by an inspection agency and she would have to pay a penalty to get it, he said.

In the process, the victim was conned of ₹ 3.80 lakh, an amount which she kept depositing in a bank account given by the accused over a period of time, the official said.

Somendranath Sharma  , Mumbaimirror, Mar 10, 2020: A 58-year-old woman from Dahisar was duped of Rs 31 lakh by a man who claimed to be a marine engineer from London. The victim had connected with him on a matrimonial website. According to the police, the man told the victim that while he was travelling to Australia from London, his ship was chased by Somalian pirates. To avoid getting robbed, he had sent his valuables through the Coast Guard and asked her to collect it. Later, she was asked to deposit money amounting to Rs 31 lakh in different bank accounts under the pretext of clearing cargo.

According to the police, the victim is a resident of Shivaji Road in Dahisar (E). In October last year, the victim had uploaded her profile on a matrimonial website. In November, the victim received a WhatsApp call from an unknown international number. The caller identified himself as Prem Bahadur (55), who claimed to be a marine engineer from London. The two then regularly started chatting with each other. On December 8, Bahadur had called the victim and had informed her that he would be going to Australia from London via ship on December 12.

“As per the victim, during the “journey in the ship”, Bahadur used to call her daily. On December 19, Bahadur informed the victim that his ship was being chased by the pirates and that a Coast Guard vessel came for their rescue and that Coast Guard officials had asked all those on board to pack their expensive valuables and get them delivered to relatives and friends of those on-board. Bahadur informed the victim that he would send all his belongings to her place. From December 23 till January 28 the victim received calls from different people who induced her to deliver Rs 31 lakh on different occasions to various bank accounts on the pretext of customs clearance,” said an officer from MHB Colony police station.

He added, when the victim kept receiving calls asking for money, she realised that she has been duped after which she approached the police and got a complaint lodged on Sunday against Prem Bahadur under Section 34 (common intention), 419 (punishment for cheating by personation )and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.

Sagar Rajput | Mumbai | IE | September 21, 2019 : A 38-year-old interior decorator from south Mumbai was allegedly duped of Rs 82 lakh after befriending an alleged US-based man on a matrimonial site.

The police said the woman, who has filed for a divorce, received a request from one Vikram Mohan on a Marathi matrimonial website on February 24, 2018. “I got married in 2009 and later as it didn’t work out with my husband, we have filed for the divorce. At present, I stay with my eight-year-old son,” the complainant said in her statement to police.

She claimed that on receiving the request from a man on the matrimonial site, she went through his profile, which said he stayed in the US with his son and a daughter. “After I accepted his request, we started chatting. He introduced himself as an engineer working in US and claimed that his wife had died in an accident,” she added.

Within a week, Mohan proposed her marriage, which she accepted. The two decided to get married in April 2018. “He said he would bring his children to Mumbai in April and also planned four our marriage. In April, he said he has got a road construction contract due to which he won’t be able to come to Mumbai and postponed the marriage,” the complainant told the police.

On April 11, 2018 , Mohan told her that he urgently needed Rs 10 lakh and asked if she could send him the amount.

“The woman transferred the amount. In the same month, she transferred another Rs 22 lakh after he told her that he needed money to buy material for the road construction,” said an officer from VP Road police. Mohan promised to return her the money as soon as he would land in Mumbai for their marriage. The woman added that her mother had sold a property in early 2018, of which, Rs 1.8 crore was shared between her and her brother.

In June 2018, the accused asked for another Rs 50 lakh from the complainant, saying his road construction machinery stopped working and he had to buy a new one. “The complainant transferred the sum. The two kept talking frequently and the accused kept postponing their marriage till May 2019, when the woman realised that she has been duped,” said an officer.

Since May 2019, the accused’s phone number has been out of service. When she couldn’t find his account on the matrimonial website, she approached the police and submitted a complaint. A cheating case was registered on Tuesday. “We are trying to trace him with the help of the details provided by the complainant,” said an officer.