A west Delhi resident lost approximately ₹82.5 lakh after being lured into an elaborate online investment scam through a dating app, highlighting a growing trend of digital deception in the capital.
A 41-year-old man from west Delhi has alleged that he lost about ₹82.5 lakh after a woman he met on a dating app steered him into what police say was an online investment scam, the Economic Times reported. According to the complaint, the woman introduced herself as Luna and claimed to be a Singapore national working for a multinational company in Bengaluru.
The victim said Luna persuaded him to try an online business venture and moved the conversation to WhatsApp, where another woman, Bella, was added to the chat. He was first asked to transfer ₹10,000, then encouraged to send larger sums through cryptocurrency platforms, a method often used in cross-border fraud because it can be harder to trace than conventional bank transfers.
According to the complaint reported by the Economic Times, the man was initially able to withdraw about ₹2 lakh, which appears to have reassured him that the scheme was genuine. He later said he was told the value of his account credit had fallen and was asked to deposit $25,000, or nearly ₹24 lakh, to regain access to benefits linked to the account. In total, he alleged that he sent about ₹82.5 lakh to accounts controlled by the accused.
The demands did not stop there. The man said he was then told his “collaboration” with staff members of the group had been detected and that withdrawals had been restricted. He was allegedly pressed to pay another $35,000, or about ₹34 lakh, as a margin deposit. Soon after he began to question the transactions, he was removed from the WhatsApp group and blocked from accessing the profile.
He then approached the police, and a case has been registered on the basis of his complaint. The case fits a wider pattern of dating-app fraud in Delhi and elsewhere, where scammers use false identities, staged profits and pressure tactics to draw victims deeper into losing schemes. The Times of India recently reported a similar case in Delhi involving a woman named Luna and losses of more than ₹80 lakh, while other recent cases in the capital and beyond have ranged from smaller phone-and-UPI thefts to multi-crore investment scams.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
