Bengaluru: A 30-year-old software engineer seeking a bridegroom lost about Rs 2.6 lakh to a fraudster who posed as a UK-based neurosurgeon on a matrimonial platform and proposed to her.
In her complaint to Central CEN Crime police, Manasa (name changed) said she created her profile on the matrimonial website in Dec 2024 to look for a match. “I was drawn to the profile of one Dr Sujeet Kumar, sent my interest request on Jan 6, and got a reply two days later. We exchanged a few messages and our phone numbers,” the Ejipura resident told TOI.
Sujeet claimed he was originally from Madhya Pradesh but was brought up in the UK where his family moved to when he was two. Posing as a neurosurgeon working in a reputed hospital, he said he was keen on marrying Manasa.
The man, who communicated on the number +447493313886, told her he was coming to India to meet her and her parents to discuss the marriage proposal. “He spoke fluent English and broken Hindi. He offered to buy me a house and a car as gifts, which I refused,” Manasa said.
On Jan 24, Sujeet told Manasa he would land in Delhi two days later. He WhatsApped her his flight ticket and also his photograph.
According to her, she insisted on speaking on a video call before they could go ahead with the matrimonial proposal, but he declined, saying he was working at an “army camp” where such calls weren’t not allowed.
He also told her he had brought a diamond ring for her. On Jan 27, Manasa received a call from the number 8119864695. A woman introduced herself as Monika Singh, a “customs officer” at Delhi airport. She told Manasa Sujeet was at the airport with 50,000 Pounds (about Rs 53 lakh). She claimed as Sujeet was carrying more than the permissible amount of cash, he had to pay Rs 38,500 as customs charge to get his UK currency released. Monika told Manasa Sujeet had given her name as reference, saying he knew only her in India.
“Sujeet also spoke to me and was almost crying for help. So I transferred the amount via a digital payment app. Thereafter, they cited different reasons and got me to pay more money. I ended up paying about Rs 2.6 lakh to different bank accounts,” Manasa said. “The next day, they asked for Rs 98,000 more. I told them I didn’t have money. The ‘customs officer’ said they would deport Sujeet to London and his cash would be seized.”
“The same day, I received a call from a bank which had one of the accounts to which I had transferred the money. The bank said the account was receiving huge sums of money from multiple people and asked me why I had transferred about Rs 1.4 lakh to it. It was then I realised it was a fraud. I called the 1930 helpline and rushed to police,” she said.
A senior officer said a case has been registered under the Information Technology Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 318 (cheating).