Promising marriage, man dupes FB friends of lakhs

The cyber crime wing of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) arrested a 28-year-old man who allegedly took several lakhs from women he met on Facebook by promising marriage.

Varthur resident Akash Bhat alias Pramod made friends of women on Facebook and escaped with their money, police said, adding that Akash made fake Facebook profiles and hunted for women.

He would select profiles based on family background and work and send friend requests to the women settled in Bengaluru. Once a woman accepted his friend request, Akash would chat with them, introducing himself as the branch manager of a reputed multi-national company in Whitefield.

As the relationship developed, he would propose marriage and ask for “financial help” citing a sudden “rough phase” in life. Akash used this method to get lakhs of rupees from several women. When they transfer the money, Akash would turn off his mobile phone and delete the Facebook profile.

Following a complaint in February from one of Akash’s victims, cyber crime police arrested Akash and recovered a car, a laptop, mobile phone and gold ornaments worth Rs 62 lakh.

Police have taken him into a seven day custody to find out about other cases and to check his criminal background. They have warned FB users about sharing personal details and other valuable information with strangers coming up with marriage proposals.