A 52-year-old Mumbai-based businessman was allegedly cheated of Rs 53 lakh by a woman he befriended on a dating app, who induced him to invest in a fake gold trading scheme. Police have registered an FIR and launched an investigation
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A 52-year-old Mumbai-based businessman was allegedly cheated of Rs 53 lakh by a woman who befriended him through a dating app. The woman whom the victim met through a dating app induced him to invest in a fraudulent scheme, police said on Thursday.
A police official, while addressing the incident, asserted, “The complainant, who is in the logistics business and also runs a marketing company, had created an account on a dating app, as he wanted to marry, and received a friend request from a female user who identified herself as 'Priyanka Gupta', a resident of Juhu,” as per PTI.
She told him that she had separated from her husband and was living with her six-year-old daughter, the official added. The two then started chatting on WhatsApp. The complainant said that the woman told him that she wanted to marry a businessman and not a salaried person.
After having a conversation for some time across dating and social media apps, soon they decided to get married.
Woman duped the victim of Rs 35 lakh
On October 13, the woman told the victim that she did gold trading through a firm called 'Market Axess Company' and he too should invest in it, as it paid handsome returns.
Initially hesitant, the victim eventually agreed to invest in the gold trading firm. The woman then allegedly created an account for him on the company's platform, and, over a period, he deposited a total of Rs 53.30 lakh, reported PTI.
His account showed that his virtual balance had grown to Rs 1.08 crore, but when he tried to withdraw some of the amount, the company executives told him that he would first have to deposit 30 per cent of the amount.
The victim, while briefing about the incident, also added that, “As he could not arrange the money, he requested a refund of his principal investment, but the company representatives started giving him evasive replies,” as cited by PTI.
Realising that he had been duped, the businessman approached the police and lodged a complaint against the woman. However, an FIR has been registered against two unidentified persons for alleged cheating and offences under the Information Technology Act; the police official said that the investigation is underway.
(With inputs from PTI)
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