Pune: Elderly Man Loses Rs 3.75 Lakh By Falling Prey To Dating Website
Pune, October 12, 2020: With a rise in online frauds and scammers, an elderly man in Pune lost Rs 3.75 lakh after falling prey to a fraud dating website.
A 68-year-old retired government employee in Nana Peth clicked on a link in a text message he received which said that the website provides women’s companionship for lonely men.
Senior Police Inspector Jayram Paygude, in-charge of Cyber Police station, Pune, said that the man went on the website after clicking on the link in the text message in July. After some time, he received a call from a woman who made him familiar with the way in which the dating website worked. She then asked for various kinds of fees and the man transferred the money into the given bank account.
“In the coming days, the victim received calls from four to five different women who asked him to pay them various kinds of fees which he did on the promise of the women meeting him, which never happened”, said inspector Paygude.
The elderly man demanded his money back earlier this month and the fraudsters said that they will come to his house and expose him if he says anything. They extorted a sum of Rs 2 lakh from him to keep this matter under the table and not tell anybody. The fraudsters also threatened to expose his messages if he didn’t pay more money.
“Though the incident happened between July and August, the victim lodged an FIR on Saturday. He was ashamed and hesitant to open up about this problem with his family”, added the police.
