A young man from near Bareilly lost Rs 1.46 lakh after falling for a scam on Grindr, revealing a wider interstate operation involving Nigerian nationals and Indian accomplices, highlighting rising risks on dating apps.
A 23-year-old man from a village near Bareilly moved to Delhi last year hoping to make a fresh start, but a brief attempt to use Grindr, a dating app for gay men, ended in a loss of Rs 1.46 lakh and exposed an interstate fraud network, according to Delhi Police.
The man, who lived alone in Vasant Kunj and worked in sales for a multinational company in Gurgaon, said the scam began on March 25 when he was contacted by a profile using the name “Dr Harry Robot” and claiming to be based in the US. Speaking to The Indian Express, he said the conversations quickly shifted from Grindr to WhatsApp, where the impersonator built trust through frequent messages, flattery and talk of visiting Delhi.
Over three days, the scammer claimed he was flying to India, first to Mumbai and then on to Delhi, and then demanded money for a series of supposed formalities, including a ticket, a money declaration certificate and customs clearance. The victim transferred funds through multiple UPI IDs and bank accounts, only to realise something was wrong when he checked an airport image sent by the fraudster and found it was Delhi airport, not Mumbai. He then filed a complaint at the Cyber Police Station in south-west Delhi, where an FIR was registered in March.
Police said the investigation, led by Sub-Inspector Vishal Yadav under Inspector Pravesh Kaushik, traced the money trail through bank records, mobile data and digital footprints. Officers arrested Deepak Kumar, 22, from Maidan Garhi in Delhi, then detained Konda Sagar, 33, and Azmeera Vinod Kumar, 30, in Telangana. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police Amit Goel, the three allegedly arranged mule accounts, which are bank accounts used to move stolen money in exchange for commission.
Investigators later identified Simeon Miracle Chinonso, a 22-year-old Nigerian woman living in Visakhapatnam, as a central figure in the case. Police said she came to India on a student visa in 2023 and was then trained by an Indian woman in Delhi to run romance and impersonation scams, including how to mimic accents, use messaging tactics and pose as different identities. Officers said Chinonso created fake profiles on dating apps, including Grindr, and used WhatsApp calls and messages to impersonate immigration and customs officials while pressing victims for more payments.
Police said they have traced at least six more victims and believe the accused may have earned about Rs 94 lakh in total. Officers described the operation as a modern version of the old “Nigerian prince” or advance-fee scam, in which victims are lured into paying repeated charges for money or valuables that never arrive. The Norton cybersecurity company says similar frauds are still common on Grindr, where scammers often use fake identities, requests for money and emotional manipulation to target users, while Avast notes that the old email-based scam has increasingly migrated to social media and dating platforms.
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