Matrimonial site fraud: Nigerian man poses as Indian, dupes woman of ₹97,000

The complainant, a Nalasopara resident, had posted her profile on a matrimonial website and was looking for a partner from her community, an officer from Tulinj police station said, adding, “She received a request from a man named Anuj Gupta, who claimed to be from Canada, and was in search of an Indian bride”

Mumbai: A Nigerian national was booked on Wednesday for allegedly befriending a 32-year-old woman through a matrimonial website and duping her of ₹97,000 under the guise of a man from North India.

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The complainant, a Nalasopara resident, had posted her profile on a matrimonial website and was looking for a partner from her community, an officer from Tulinj police station said, adding, “She received a request from a man named Anuj Gupta, who claimed to be from Canada, and was in search of an Indian bride.”

Gradually, they began chatting as well as talking on the phone and after a few weeks, the two decided to get married. On Sunday, the woman said, she received a call from Gupta, saying that he had bought jewellery worth around ₹22 lakh for her for the wedding and had got it along with him.

“The accused on Tuesday called up the woman, claiming that he had reached Delhi airport, but the Customs Department was not letting him leave, as he had not paid the taxes on the jewellery. The accused told the woman that since he had a credit card and debit card from Canada, it was not operational in India and asked her to send ₹2.5 lakh to his account so that he could pay the taxes and leave for Mumbai,” the officer said.

The woman sent ₹97,000 to the man’s account, stating that she would arrange the rest of the amount in a day, the officer said, adding, “The next day when the woman called Gupta, she found his phone to be switched off. On checking his profile on the website, the complainant found that he had deleted the profile from the matrimonial website.”

Realising that she was duped, the woman on Wednesday approached the police and lodged a complaint. “On tracing the owner of the mobile number of the accused, we found out that the phone was registered in the name of a Nigerian national. She also gave us a phone call recording and by his voice we learnt that the accent of the man was African,” the officer added.

According to the police, a few weeks ago, a woman approached the Arnala police station with a similar complaint where she had lost ₹28 lakh in a matrimonial fraud to a Nigerian national.

“We are trying to find out whether both the cases have been committed by the same man or whether there is a gang of Nigerian nationals who are targeting women through matrimonial websites,” added the officer.