Delhi: Uganda native held for duping man of Rs 1.9 lakh via fake dating app profile

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) A 38-year-old man, a native of Uganda, was arrested for allegedly duping a Delhi resident of Rs 1.9 lakh after posing as a woman on a dating app by using pictures of his girlfriend and luring him into a fraudulent investment scheme, police said on Monday.

The accused, identified as Micheal Iga, allegedly residing without valid documentation in Burari area, offered the complainant a "lucrative business opportunity" involving purchase of a "rare oil" from Assam, they said.

"The complainant, a resident of Kishan Garh, had connected with a woman on a dating app. She allegedly gained his confidence by claiming to work for a beauty-products company and offered him a lucrative business opportunity involving the purchase, and resale of a rare oil from Assam at high profit margins," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Amit Goel said.

Trusting her assurances, he transferred Rs 1,90,000 to multiple bank accounts, after which she blocked him.

Police said the identity used on the dating app was fake, and the entire narrative about the oil trade was fabricated. An FIR under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered.

Using technical surveillance, digital footprint analysis and money trail, the police traced Iga, who had allegedly been shifting locations across Delhi-NCR to evade detection. He was eventually arrested from Burari, the officer said.

Four mobile phones, a laptop, six debit cards used for routing defrauded funds, and Rs 22,500 in cash were recovered from him, he added.

According to police, Iga is linked to at least 14 cyber fraud complaints registered on the National Cyber Reporting Platform (NCRP) across multiple states and Union territories.

During interrogation, Iga confessed to creating fake female profiles using photographs of his girlfriend to honey trap victims and then duping them with promises of high-return investments, police said.

He was also found to be residing illegally in the city, they added. PTI SSJ SSJ ARB ARB