Love Or Nightmare? Cyber Criminals Set New Love Traps On Online Dating Platforms

BENGALURU: Roses are red, violets are blue; beware of these scams or it could happen to you. After being promised premium membership on a dating app, a 45-year-old software engineer became the city’s latest victim of cybercrime, losing 37.3 lakh.

In December last year, the victim – a resident of Kammanahalli, came across an online dating app while browsing the internet and attempted to sign up as a member. An unidentified person claiming to be from the dating website called him and enticed him to pay for the membership, and he has since been paying various fees from his account.

 He depleted all of his savings and even borrowed money from a friend to cover the bill until April of this year.

Soon, he realised that he was duped, and when his friends began hounding him to repay the money, the victim approached the East division cybercrime police and filed a complaint. The police are now examining transaction details to identify and locate the accused.

In a similar incident, a 26-year-old private firm employee was lured into a private conversation by his female social media “friend,” who recorded it and extorted Rs 51,000 from him.

When the ransom demand increased, the victim approached the Whitefield cybercrime police and filed a complaint on Tuesday. According to his complaint, the victim became friends with the woman on Facebook in May and they exchanged phone numbers. The two quickly began to converse. The woman recorded the chats without his knowledge and later began blackmailing him by threatening to upload the videos.

He transferred 51,000 into her account out of fear for his reputation. Based on the details of where the money was transferred, Whitefield police are now attempting to locate the accused.

In April, the Whitefield cybercrime police discovered a similar ring and arrested two Rajasthan residents for blackmailing and extorting a 26-year-old IAS aspirant by trapping him online and recording his videos.