Six held for duping prospective brides through fake matrimonial profiles

A gang was busted with the arrest of six people, including four Nigerian nationals, for making a fake profile on a matrimonial website and duping a woman of around Rs 9 lakh on the pretext of sending expensive gifts, police said on Friday.

The accused nabbed on Thursday used to contact prospective brides through fake profiles of wealthy Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in the medical or engineering profession, they added.

According to the police, a Gurugram-based woman had filed a complaint at the cyber crime branch here on March 13, saying that she had gotten in touch with a man posing as a United Kingdom-based NRI doctor on a matrimonial website.

The accused, who identified himself as Dr. Mark Bakshi, told the woman he had sent her a gift parcel containing gold jewellery and USD 85,000, the complaint said.

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A few days later, the complainant got a call from a woman claiming to be a customs department employee who asked her to deposit Rs 45,000 as tax to collect the parcel. The fake customs employee kept charging the woman in the name of various fees, following which she ended up paying a total of Rs 8.85 lakh, it added.

An FIR was registered at the Gurugram cybercrime east police station in April and a team led by SHO Jasveer finally busted the gang and nabbed the six accused from the Mohan Garden area in Delhi on Thursday.

A total of 16 mobile phones, 28 SIM cards, four laptops, six debit and credit cards, six pen drives, three passports and Rs 45,000 cash was recovered from the gang's possession, the police said.

The accused have been identified as Nigerian nationals Samuel Ubaka Igwatu, Emmanuel Chukwudi, Anidebe Emeka Alex, Audimnobifitu Aloysis and two women from Manipur – Wassomichon and Chanchmliyu Panme, they added.

Priyanshu Dewan, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cyber) said upon interrogation, the accused said they used to befriend prospective brides on matrimonial websites by posing as NRIs who were high-ranking government officials, businessmen and doctors. After winning their trust, they used to cheat the women on the pretext of sending gifts from foreign countries.

"We are questioning the accused after taking them on police remand and hope some other cases will be detected as well," Dewan said.