The Indian police in Delhi have arrested two Nigerians for allegedly impersonating British residents to dupe several women on matrimonial digital applications.
The police said the suspects posed as marine engineers and rich IT professionals to lure women on the app.
According to The Indian Express on Sunday, the accused identified as Alex and Ibeh, demanded money from their victims on the pretext of clearing Customs fees for gifts.
Alex and Ibeh are 30-year-old and 45-year-old respectively have been cheating women for months in the name of sending and receiving gifts.
The matter was uncovered when a 24-year-old woman, a resident of the President Estate area, alleged she lost Rs 4 lakh, The Indian Express said.
A senior police officer said, “The woman told us she met a man named Aman Arora on a matrimonial site. He said he was a marine in the UK. They started talking on WhatsApp and the man told her he was coming to Mumbai to meet her.”
On February 1, the woman said she received a call from Mumbai airport officials who told her that Aman had been detained for carrying 4,000 pounds and expensive items.
She was asked to pay Rs 8,500 to “register” the valuables. The woman was then asked to spend more money in the name of securing the gifts and freeing Aman.
Pranav Tayal, DCP (New Delhi), said, “She had paid Rs 4 lakh and got suspicious of the calls. She complained to us. Our teams immediately started analysing all the chats, transactions, IP addresses and call details.”
During the investigation, the police found the accused were linked with a gang operating from Greater Noida. Several teams were sent to nab the accused. Locals were questioned, and informers were deployed. After several raids, the accused were caught from their rented accommodation in Noida.
Alex was nabbed with the phone that was used during the offence. During interrogation, he disclosed he came to India three years back on medical visa. He and his accomplices had no work and started cheating people by faking marriage proposals or in the name of sending expensive gifts.
“They created fake profiles on social media posing as residents of the UK. They would then contact Indian women on apps and propose to them for marriage. After luring them with their fake lifestyle, they would take money on the pretext of custom clearances,” added Tayal.
Police said the accused had told the victim that he would soon shift to the USA and asked her to marry him.
Ibeh used to manage bank accounts for siphoning off the cheated amount. He was arrested with 3 ATM cards and Rs10,000 of the cheated amount.
