Police Arrest Five For Running Online Dating Scam in Rajasthan

The Udaipur police have busted a major online dating scam being run by a gang of five people across three states. The accused were arrested for creating fake social media profiles to cheat and extort money from people looking for relationships online.

According to SP Bhuvan Bhushan Yadav of Udaipur Police, they received a tip-off about a gang operating in the Govardhan Vilas area that was befriending boys and girls on Instagram and WhatsApp by pretending to be interested in dating them. However, they would then extort money from the victims after building trust.

Acting on the information, the police apprehended five youths from the location – Bhanu Pratap Singh from Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Satyam Singh from Agra, Rahul Vyas from Karauli in Rajasthan, Amul Ahirwar from Chhattarpur in Madhya Pradesh and Mohit Singh from Agra. The police have recovered mobile phones and tablets from the accused.

During interrogation, the gang revealed that they would create fake profiles of boys and girls on social media apps and offer to find a boyfriend or girlfriend for the victims. After gaining their trust, they would ask the targets to register on a website and make online payments, only to block them afterwards.

The timely action by Udaipur Police has exposed the operations of this inter-state gang involved in cheating people under the pretext of online dating. The police are investigating if more people are involved in the racket. The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.