Pune: Engineer Duped Of Rs 2 Lakh In A Matrimonial Fraud By Woman

A 36-year-old engineer from Old Sangvi, Pune, was duped of Rs 2 lakh by a woman who befriended him through matrimonial websites, said a report by The Times of India. The woman borrowed the money from the engineer on the pretext of her father’s medical treatment. She later stopped responding to him.

The Sangvi police have registered an offence against the unidentified woman under Sections 419 (Punishment for cheating by personation), 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code and the relevant sections of the Information and Technology Act. Inspector Arvind Jondhale said that the complainant works in a private company. “He enrolled in two matrimonial websites. The suspected woman also had her profile and cell phone number on these websites,” Jondhale said.

Duping through matrimonial site

The engineer got in touch with the women on the number mentioned in the websites in September. They decided to get married after talking to each other for a couple of days. According to the officer, the woman had told the complainant that her father had suffered a heart attack and she urgently needed money for his surgery. She asked for Rs 2 lakh from the engineer. She even gave him an account number. “On September 25, the engineer transferred Rs 1.50 lakh to the account from his friend’s bank account.” On October 5, the engineer again transferred Rs 50,000 to the same account. After receiving Rs 2 lakh, the woman suspected of duping stopped responding to his calls.

The engineer lodged a complaint after waiting for the woman to call him for one month.

Similar incidents of duping

Last month, a woman duped a senior citizen from Wakad of Rs 18.50 lakh pretending to be from Syria. The woman claimed that she was in a precarious financial condition and sought his help. She asked the senior citizen to deposit the money in her account. The elderly man is a widower who lives alone in Thergaon area. He had created a profile on a matrimonial website two years ago thinking of a second marriage.

He received a text in the month of September from the woman claiming that she was interested in his profile and would like to marry him. The two began chatting on a social networking site and soon shared their personal details. The woman further claimed that she had huge property in Syria, which she would eventually share with him once they get married. The man deposited money in the account number provided by her to get the gift the woman had sent. He had deposited the money but did not receive any gift.

The Logical Indian Take

The Logical Indian urges its community members to not fall prey to such duping incidents. They must remain cautious while exchanging personal details with strangers on the social media as well as on matrimonial sites. It is important that they should always do a thorough background check before extending any monetary help to strangers.

To dupe innocent people and rob them off their hard-earned money, the fraudsters often cook up stories that can be emotional. The community members must always be aware of such frauds and should not trust them with their important personal details like bank account information, Aadhaar information, etc.