Fraudship request: Cyber flirts `cash in' on singletons

Crime Branch hasregistered seven cases where the accused pose as NRIs and propose marriage tosingle men and women online before conning them out of lakhs of rupees

Anjali Mehta (name changed), a banker, fell in love online with Anil Mu kesh (name changed) who claimed to be a doctor with the United Nations, settled in the UK.He professed undying love to Anjali and told her he was taking a transfer to India for a happily-ever-after. All seemed well till one day, she received a call from a `customs official', seeking Rs 20 lakh in duties. As Anil was shifting to India, he had sent all his valuable medical equipment to Anjali's address. But the `official' sought the amount as customs duty. Anjali got even more confused when Anil began emotionally blackmailing her, and asked her to pay up. On July 4, she again got a call from the `official', demanding the money but when she tried to call back on the number, the phone had been switched off.

Helpless and wanting Anil to come and live with her, she transferred Rs 20 lakh to the bank account given by the caller through real-time gross settlement systems (RTGS). But Anil never called back and that was the end of the love story.

On Saturday, Anjali registered a case with cyber-crime cell of the Crime Branch. While Anjali used to chat with Anil on his `UK number' every day, police investigation revealed that the number was registered in Delhi. Anjali is not the only victim of a growing tribe of techno-savvy, seemingly smart, English-speaking con men. These men use technology to target high-profile single women after befriending them on social media websites like Facebook.

FIVE CASES IN 3 MONTHS

In the past three months, five such cases have been registered with the cyber-crime cell where criminals have extracted lakhs of money from their `lovers' by offering them false promises of gifts and favours. Last year, only two such cases were reported, but till July this year a total of seven cases have been registered. “Earlier, criminals used to demand money over the phone. But now, to gain the confidence of people, they send out official letters from customs and banks after creating fake websites,“ said Jasmin Rojiya, police inspector of Crime Branch (cyber wing). The criminals have not even spared the Reserve Bank of India. Recently, the crime branch blocked a fake website of RBI called RBId.org.in. The stamps and other signatures used on the fake sites are similar to those on genuine websites, sources said.

“Such incidents have shot up. We receive almost two such cases every month. The criminals target vulnerable profiles after carefully studying their behavioural patterns,“ said Rojiya. “Anjali's case was the first where a professional who belongs to an affluent family was targeted. In fact, nowadays even the amount of mon ey extracted from the victims is going up,“ said an official.

In a similar case last month, Dr Yogesh Jani lost more than Rs 2 lakh to a British woman he was in a cyber-relationship with. After seven months into meeting on a matrimonial website, they both decided to marry and settle down in India. The woman sent Jani an iPhone6, a wrist watch and £10,000 to buy a car. But he also received a call from someone posing as a customs official, seeking customs and excise duty. Two days later, he also received an email from `RBI', demanding Rs 43,000.

Police investigation has revealed that all the international numbers on which the victims contacted the accused, were in fact registered in Delhi.“These criminals go through the profiles of single, divorced women and befriend them. They then get chatting and offer companionship. Within a few months into their relationship, the victims begin trusting the accused who later exploit them,“ said Rojiya.