Minor blackmailed by dating platform match; parents lose Rs 1.94 lakh in Pune

According to the police, unidentified fraudster(s), posed as a woman on an online dating portal and coaxed the minor to share his Aadhaar card details. Once the minor shared the information, the accused used it to blackmail him

A minor accessed Rs 1,94,000 from his mother’s bank account to pay an unidentified person he met on an online dating platform.

A minor accessed Rs 1,94,000 from his mother’s bank account to pay an unidentified person he met on an online dating platform.(HT/PHOTO)

According to the police, unidentified fraudster(s), posed as a woman on an online dating portal and coaxed the minor to share his Aadhaar card details. Once the minor shared the information, the accused used it to blackmail him.

The money was transferred through multiple transactions which were carried out between February and August 2019.

Senior police inspector Nanakishor Shelke of Sinhgad road police station, who is investigating the case said, “The parents were unaware of the transactions which happened from three different accounts belonging to them. The mother started noticing this after she received a notification of the depleting bank balance. When the parents confronted their son, he broke down and told him what had happened.”

A complaint has been lodged by the 43-year-old mother of the minor boy, a resident of Hingane-Khurd, Pune.

A case under Sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code along with Sections 66(c) and 66(d) of Information Technology Act has been registered at Sinhgad road police station.