October 16, 2015
Mumbai: After emails and phishing scams, Nigerian conmen are now using matrimonial websites to find their victims.
In two separate raids conducted over two days, cops in Mumbai and Hyderabad have caught 10 Nigerian conmen who duped women by promising to marry them, convincing them to deposit huge amounts of money in their bank accounts and then ran away.
October 16, 2015
Mumbai: After emails and phishing scams, Nigerian conmen are now using matrimonial websites to find their victims.
In two separate raids conducted over two days, cops in Mumbai and Hyderabad have caught 10 Nigerian conmen who duped women by promising to marry them, convincing them to deposit huge amounts of money in their bank accounts and then ran away.
In Mumbai, two conmen managed to cheat at least 12 women to a total tune of Rs 2 crore before one of the victims reported them to the cops. The Hindustan Times reports that the woman, 48, had paid the conmen Rs 1.01 crore, of which she had taken Rs 50 lakh on loan, before she realized that she was being conned. She then complained to the Commissioner of Police after which officers from Crime Branch Unit 11 traced the conmen to a rented flat in Malwani and arrested them on 13 October.
Crime Branch officials told The Hindustan Times that the two conmen duped women not only in Mumbai but also in Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai. Their modus operandi was to upload a photo of a South Asian man and pose as a British national of Indian origin. They used the profile to befriend the women, following which they convinced them to deposit money into several bank accounts over the next few months. They would then disappear.
Other than women, the conmen also victimized job seekers, falsely promising them well-paying jobs abroad in exchange for money, according to The Hindustan Times.
In Hyderabad, a Nigerian national cheated a school teacher, 32, of Rs 5.4 lakh before she caught on to the scheme, reports The Times Of India. The victim reportedly told the police that she had been approached by a man called Garry Phillips who saw her profile on a matrimonial website. He pretended to be an American Caucasian male working in Delhi. He established a rapport with her between February and August, and though they never met, he convinced her he wished to marry her.
Cyber crime cops told The Times Of India that one day, Garry claimed that he was returning with Rs 50 crore worth of gifts for her from his US trip but he had been caught by customs officials at Delhi airport. He told her that if she didn't deposit the money in multiple accounts, both of them will go to jail. The victim deposited the money and then never heard from Garry again.
The Times Of India report states that based on the victim's complaint, the police busted the racket and arrested eight Nigerian nationals from Dabri in New Delhi on 8 October. One of the arrested men was Udunna Chukwuma Collins, who had posed as Garry.
Courtesy: Firstpost
