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 lady he met on a courting app resulted in a Rs 1.20 lakh invoice at a restaurant, is simply one of many many instances of ‘Tinder rip-off’ that has turn into rampant in main cities. Most of those instances go unreported as a result of the victims don’t want their households to know they’re on a courting app.
A number of posts on Reddit, a few of them a 12 months outdated, narrate accounts of people that have been scammed into paying exorbitant quantities throughout dates with ladies they met on courting apps. Whereas NDTV can’t confirm the authenticity of every of those apps, they level to a typical modus operandi.
How Is The Sufferer Lured
The sufferer matches with the girl on a courting app corresponding to Tinder, Bumble, Hinge and OKCupid. She readily shares her WhatsApp quantity and so they get speaking. Quickly, a date is deliberate. The girl then insists that they meet at a specific locality and that there are various cafes and pubs there. When the sufferer asks the title of the cafe for instructions, the girl tells him to satisfy at a specific Metro station and that they will go from there.
On the cafe, the girl locations the order. Wanting to impress his date, the sufferer normally doesn’t suspect any foul play. Thereafter, the girl orders one thing that might not be on the menu. In some case, the girl 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 employees or bouncers. Left with little alternative, he pays. Most individuals don’t method the police as a result of a probe could disclose to his household that he’s assembly individuals through a courting 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 house owners, managers and ladies who lure the goal.
Every participant has a minimize: Akshay Pahwa instructed police that 15 per cent of the invoice goes to the girl, 45 per cent is split between the managers and the remaining 40 per cent to the house owners.
In his account, a Reddit person has mentioned his ‘date’ randomly ordered some firecrackers that jacked up the invoice to over Rs 40,000.
“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 depart. Boy, was I unsuitable? The invoice got here at 45k… These anar firecrackers have been of 2k every x15 = 30k,” he has mentioned. One other person mentioned that after he was scammed, he realised that the person on the following 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, totally 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 way of 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 totally different names and the identical girl was reaching out to a number of individuals on courting 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 instances, it was as excessive as Rs 40,000. The victims, generally, don’t file a police grievance or write about it on social media as a result of they wish to keep nameless. The scamsters transfer to the following goal.
Ladies Targets Too
It isn’t simply males who’re turning into targets on courting apps. Earlier this month, Delhi Police arrested two males for befriending ladies on courting apps and allegedly robbing them at their houses, PTI has reported.
The police recognized the accused as Vijay Kumar Kamal (28) and Rahul (35). The matter got here to mild on Might 31 when a 35-year-old girl filed a grievance {that a} man, who launched himself as Jatin on a courting app, robbed her in her home, senior police officer Ankit Singh mentioned. The sufferer instructed the police that she and Jatin (Vijay Kumar Kamal) used to speak over messages earlier than he and Rahul visited her home on Might 30. They tied her fingers, 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 instances have been labored out of Dabri, Dwarka North, south Rohini, and north Rohini of the identical nature. Additional interrogation is underway to seek out out different victims, if any.”
