Conmen lure gullible victims with foreign jewellery, gold and expensive gifts

Mysore/Mysuru: With matrimonial fraud cases on the rise, the City Police have been issuing advisories for prospective brides and grooms to avoid being cheated of their money. Warnings have also been issued to the public not to fall prey for online gifts, jewellery and high interest for their investment.

The modus operandi is to post an impressive online profile on a matrimonial site, posing as prospective bride or bridegroom. Fraudsters then befriend the gullible and once they gain confidence, they ask victims to transfer money into their bank accounts stating an emergency. They disappear without a trace as soon as the money is transferred and the cycle continues.

In the latest cases of online fraud, two women have lost a total of Rs. 12,69,780 to online fraudsters in Mysuru and Kodagu.

In the first case, a fraudster, who got himself introduced to a 32-year-old woman through a matrimonial website, cheated her to the tune of Rs. 5,86,780 on the pretext of sending her a gift from abroad. Fraudsters usually target women and men who are older are desperate to get married. They usually claim to be working in foreign countries as the verification in such cases becomes furthermore difficult.

The woman, who was cheated on is A.M. Pratibha, a resident of Angatahalli in Hunsur taluk. A B.Com graduate, Pratibha had married one Suraj Shahi in 2017 and a daughter was born to them. But her husband, who was working in Dubai, reportedly married there and severed his relationship with Pratibha.

Pratibha decided to get married again and uploaded her details in a matrimonial website and received a request from one Ajith Kumar. After obtaining Pratibha’s WhatsApp number, Ajith chatted with her and told her that he is also known by the name Kelvin Maxwell.

He told her that his ancestors were Indians and he was living in the United Kingdom. He later told her that he was sending some jewellery through courier to her and also told her that she would get a call from Delhi Airport. To gain her trust, he also sent a photo of the jewellery box and the receipt to her.

The next day, Pratibha received a call and the caller told her that he was calling from the courier office and that she has got a courier from Ajith Kumar alias Kevin Maxwell. The caller later told her that she has to pay Rs. 38,000 as clearance charge to receive the courier and told her to transfer the money to the bank account of one Rajkumar.

Later, from Aug. 31 to Sept. 8, the caller had got a total of Rs. 5,86,780 transferred from Pratibha in phases. But when the caller asked Pratibha to transfer more money, she felt something fishy and lodged a complaint at the CEN Police Station in Mysuru.

Foreign gift

 In the second case, a 54-year-old woman, who fell for gifts from abroad, lost Rs. 6.83 lakh to the fraudster. The woman who lost her money is C.H. Susheela, a resident of Venkatappa Layout in Gonikoppa of Kodagu district.

One John Williams had befriended Susheela through WhatsApp and the two began to chat continuously. John, who took Susheela’s address, told her that he would be sending her gifts and on Oct. 9, he had sent photos of the gifts on her WhatsApp.

The next day, Susheela received a call and the caller, who identified himself from the Customs Office, told her that she had received a parcel and that she had to pay money to get the parcel released. Susheela readily obliged and paid up  Later, as various charges, the miscreant got a total of Rs. 6.83 lakh transferred from her in phases till Oct. 15. A case has been registered at Kodagu CEN Police Station.