Businessman duped of Rs 53 lakh by woman he met through dating app

Mumbai, Dec 25 (PTI) A 52-year-old city-based businessman was allegedly cheated of Rs 53 lakh by a woman who befriended him through a dating app and induced him to invest in a fraudulent scheme, police said on Thursday.

The complainant, who is in the logistics business and also runs a marketing company, had created an account on a dating app as he wanted to marry, and received a friend request from a female user who identified herself as `Priyanka Gupta', a resident of Juhu, said a police official.

She told him that she had separated from her husband and was living with her six-year-old daughter, the official said.

The two then started chatting on WhatsApp. According to the complainant, the woman told him that she wanted to marry a businessman and not a salaried person.

Soon they decided to get married. On October 13, the woman told the complainant that she did gold trading through a firm called `Market Axess Company' and he too should invest in it as it paid handsome returns.

Initially hesitant, the complainant eventually agreed to invest. The woman created an account for him on the company's platform and, over a period, he deposited a total of Rs 53.30 lakh, according to the complaint.

His account showed that his virtual balance had grown to Rs 1.08 crore, but when he tried to withdraw some of the amount, the company executives told him that he would first have to deposit 30 per cent of the amount.

As he could not arrange the money, he requested a refund of his principal investment, but the company representatives started giving him evasive replies, the complaint said.

Realising that he had been duped, the businessman approached the police and lodged a complaint.

A First Information Report has been registered against two unidentified persons for alleged cheating and offences under the Information Technology Act, the police official said, adding that investigation is underway. PTI DC KRK