Dating App Scam in Mumbai: 65-Year-Old Woman Allegedly Duped of INR 1.3 Crore by Fraudster Posing As American Engineer on 'International Cupid' App

Mumbai, October 8:  In another dating app scam, a 65-year-old woman was duped for  INR 1.3 crore by a con man posing as an American engineer. She received calls from individuals impersonating "representatives" of several financial organizations, such as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that turned out to be fake. The Cyber Police filed an FIR regarding this case.

According to a report by the Times of India, the 65-year-old woman is a housewife. While using the dating app International Cupid, in April 2023, she connected with a man named Paul Rutherford, who claimed to be an American civil engineer working in the Philippines. After building a rapport, Rutherford told her that an accident on his construction site had occurred, and he urgently needed money to avoid arrest and deportation. Between April and June 2023, she sent him funds in bitcoins, with Rutherford promising to repay her. Mumbai Shocker: Man Sexually Abuses Girlfriend, Blackmails Her Using Intimate Videos After Secretly Marrying Victim in Ghatkopar; Arrested.

In June, she received a call from a woman named Priya Sharma, who claimed to be a Delhi airport official. Sharma informed her that a parcel containing $2 million had been confiscated by customs. Over the next few months, she paid various sums as instructed by Sharma to cover government charges for the parcel's release. Mumbai Shocker: Man's Missing Complaint Reveals He Was Sexually Abusing Teenager Daughter For 5 Years.

Further, In January this year she received a call from someone claiming to be an employee of Bank of America in New Delhi. He informed her that the $2 million from the confiscated parcel had been transferred to the bank and sent her an ATM card bearing her name. However, it was later revealed that the card was fake.

She later received calls from two women impersonating officials from the RBI and IMF, who sent her a letter on official letterhead stating that her American dollars would be converted to Indian currency, promising her ₹17 crore in her bank account. On May 6, two men claiming to be from NPCI contacted her, assuring them that all the money she had paid would be refunded, but she would need to pay fees first. Additionally, a "banker" from a leading private bank called, asking her to cover "intercity charges" related to the funds she was supposedly set to receive.

By June 2024, the complainant had paid the fraudsters a total of INR 1.3 crore. In her police complaint, she stated that she still receives calls from them demanding more money. Additionally, she is checking her bank records to see how much she may have transferred beyond the INR 1.3 crore. The Cyber Police have registered an FIR and are conducting further investigations into the matter.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 08, 2024 09:29 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).