Two Nigerian men, Alex (30) and Ibeh (45), have been arrested by the Delhi Police on charges of cheating several Indian women on matrimonial applications. The police stated that the accused had been posing as marine engineers and wealthy IT professionals to lure women on the app, and then taking money from them under the guise of clearing customs fees for gifts.
According to the police, the accused had been cheating women for months, convincing them to send/receive gifts. The matter came to light when a 24-year-old woman from the President Estate area lodged a complaint that she had lost Rs 4 lakh. She had met a man named Aman Arora on a matrimonial site, who claimed to be a marine in the UK. They started chatting on WhatsApp and he said he was coming to Mumbai to meet her.
On February 1, the woman received a call from Mumbai airport officials who claimed that Aman had been detained for carrying 4,000 pounds and expensive items. She was asked to pay Rs 8,500 to register the valuables and was then asked to spend more money in the name of securing the gifts and freeing Aman.
The police investigated the matter and found that the accused were associated with a gang operating from Greater Noida. The accused were caught from their rented accommodation in Noida, and Alex was caught with the phone used during the offence. During interrogation, Alex revealed that he had come to India three years ago on a medical visa, and he and his associates had started cheating people by faking marriage proposals or by claiming to send expensive gifts.
The accused had created fake profiles on social media and posed as residents of the UK. They would then contact Indian women on apps, propose marriage, and take money on the pretext of custom clearances. Ibeh used to manage bank accounts for siphoning off the cheated amount. The police said the accused had told the victim that he would soon shift to the USA and asked her to marry him. The accused had worked with other gang members, who are currently absconding. Searches are being made for them, and their phones are being analysed to trace more victims.