Duped of €900 by ‘lover’, Italian woman hunts Gurugram man

Daniela De Pietri alleged that she sent €450 each in August and September after the man said he had lost his job and sought financial help.

Daniela De Pietri, a, a 50-year-old jewellery designer from Italy, landed in Delhi on Monday. Within hours, instead of heading to tourist destinations, she headed to the office of a senior Gurugram police officer, seeking help against a man she says had spent months convincing her that they were in a relationship, promising marriage and eventually persuading her to send him €900.

The 50-year-old said she first met the man on Instagram in March after they followed the same German singer and began exchanging messages. (VectorBum - stock.adobe.com)

The money, she says, is no longer the point.

She has already spent twice that amount on flights, visa fees and hotels to travel to India and pursue a police complaint. What brought her across continents, she told investigators, was the emotional turmoil and sense of betrayal after she realised that the man she had trusted -- who introduced himself as a jewellery designer based in Gurugram -- may have deceived her.

“This incident was financially damaging too. I hope that the man captured and jailed. It will prevent other victims from falling into such traps,” she told HT on Wednesday, hours before she flew back to Italy.

Depietri, who owns a jewellery showroom in Reggio Emilia, Italy, approached assistant commissioner of police (cybercrime) Gaurav Fogat on Monday and submitted a written complaint. An FIR was subsequently registered at Cybercrime (West) police station under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

According to the complaint, accessed by HT, De Pietri first came in contact with the man on Instagram in March. Both followed the same German singer, whose Instagram page became the starting point for their conversations. The man, she said, operated an Instagram account promoting jewellery and introduced himself as a jewellery designer and “AI film creator”.

She alleged that he initially showered her with attention, creating several videos for her jewellery business without charging her because, he told her, she would be his future wife.

“He created several videos for my businesses without taking any payment. This was love-bombing,” she alleged in her complaint.

As the months rolled on, the man told her that he had lost his job and began asking her for money, she alleged.

According to the FIR, he asked her to transfer money to an NRI bank account. When her bank advised her against making the transfer because he was based in Gurugram, she instead sent money through Western Union.

She alleged that she transferred €450 on August 4 and another €450 on September 9.

“He kept asking for more money,” she alleged, adding that he stopped sharing videos for her business after she began suspecting him. She also alleged that he promoted drugs and marijuana on his Instagram profile.

Fogat said De Pietri had earlier approached Italian authorities but she was told that the case would be embroiled in transnational complexities.

As a last-ditch effort, she contacted Fogat through his official WhatsApp number on September 25. “She was determined to bring him to justice. She told us that it was not about the money duped from her but that the suspect had broken her trust and was using the same modus operandi to dupe women from other countries in a similar fashion,” Fogat said.

Police said the suspect operates two Instagram accounts, one of them presenting him as a Gurugram-based jewellery designer. “We have launched an investigation and will track and arrest the suspect soon,” Fogat said.

After the FIR was registered, De Pietri thanked the Gurugram Police cybercrime team and Fogat on social media, saying she was waiting for the suspect to be caught. “I came to India because I want him to face the law of the land,” she wrote.