Bhubaneswar Man Falls Victim To Matrimonial Scam; Fraudster Arrested

Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police here on Friday arrested a fraudster, who allegedly duped a man of over Rs 3 lakh after coming in contact with him through a fake profile on a matrimonial site.

The accused has been identified as Nrusingha Biswal (36) of Bhatakudi under Sadar police limits in Odisha’s Puri district. Five ATM cards, 2 SIM cards, three mobile phones and Rs 1.62 lakh in cash were seized from him

Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh said that one Manas Ranjan Panda found a match on Bharat Matrimony with the ID name Dipa Pradhan and began chatting with her on Whatsapp from May 18, 2023. The contact then sought financial help from him to treat her father, who was cancer patient, claiming that her bank account was blocked. Following, which, Manas transferred some money to her G-pay account. Later, she sent a picture of a man, saying that her father had died, and again of a fractured leg of a woman, claiming it to be hers.

“The complainant sent Rs 3, 18,000 on different occasions from May 21, 2023, to June 12, 2023. When he asked the contact to return the money, she avoided him on some plea or the other like card have been blocked and cheque book has not been issued by the bank. She also did not respond to her video/voice call and later switched off the phone,” he said.

Suspecting foul play. Manas then lodged a complaint in this regard with Mancheswar police on November 11, 2023.

A team from Cyber Crime and Economic Offence police station traced the contact after verifying the phone number linked to the G-Pay account and found that it was a man, who had studied till Class IX. Further investigation is underway to ascertain involvement of others in the fraud.

The DCP further said that the accused had created the fake in the name of his wife.

GENERAL INFORMATION ON MATRIMONY SCAM

• Fraudsters create fake profiles on leading matrimonial websites for cheating.
• If there is any demand for transfer of funds, cross verify the genuineness of the person.

DO’s

• Create profiles only on a registered matrimonial site.
• Verify educational qualification and job description of the person by calling up the educational institutes or employer.
• Visit the person’s house and meet his/her parents & relatives not once but a number of times. Invite them to your house as well.
• Do a lot of background verification about the interested person by face-to-face meetings, especially after meeting prospective groom or bride’s parents/relatives.

DON’TS

• Never reveal your bank account information
• Keep your username and password safe. Remember, no one from any trusted service will ever ask you for the same.
• Check before logging in
• Do not click on unsafe links. Unsafe links may lead you to a phishing page which captures all your credentials.

Dial 1930 if someone falls prey to this type of fraud, the release added.