Dating app friend dupes techie of Rs 50 lakh by promising trading profit & marriage in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: An east Bengaluru software engineer seeking a partner through a dating app lost Rs 50 lakh recently.
Dinesh (name changed), 48, stated in his complaint to east CEN crime police that he received interest from a profile named Shruthi Menon on the Happn dating app in June this year.
The duo started messaging each other on Telegram and WhatsApp.
Shruthi reportedly expressed her liking for him and assured him of marriage before tricking him into investing in the stock market.
She provided him with the account of a trader and a link to a portal where he registered and started trading. Dinesh told TOI.
"I initially invested Rs 40,000 by transferring money to a bank account in the name of Rupal Enterprises provided by the fraudsters, and within a few minutes, they transferred Rs 50,000 back to me saying I had made a profit."
Shruthi later asked him to invest more money. "She asked me how much I had in my account. I told her I had about Rs 10 lakh. She convinced me to invest the entire amount to make a good profit. I transferred Rs 6.5 lakh to another account in the name of DAS Traders. The profit for my investment was displayed on the portal," Dinesh said.
Shruthi again convinced him to invest more. As his LIC policy matured, he withdrew Rs 10 lakh and again invested Rs 6 lakh in another account in the name of Adhirit Engineering. Similarly, he invested Rs 10 lakh, Rs 5.88 lakh, Rs 13 lakh, and so on.
In total, Dinesh ended up transferring Rs 50 lakh to nine bank accounts by Sept 24, taking bank loans and borrowing money from his friends and relatives.
The portal displayed Rs 73 lakh in his name. She suggested he withdraw the money. When he tried to do so, the fraudsters asked him to pay Rs 32 lakh, citing various fees and taxes.
"But I refused to pay them further and later learnt that the entire process was fraud. I called the cyber helpline 1930 and complained. Shruthi, who was unaware that I had lodged a complaint, started bargaining with me about the fees and asked me to pay Rs 8 lakh and withdraw Rs 73 lakh," Dinesh said.
Dinesh said he read about a similar fraud reported in TOI on Oct 9, and lodged the complaint the same day. Shruthi messaged him on Wednesday too, promising to meet him next month to finalise talks about their marriage. She was still pursuing Rs 8 lakh. Dinesh said, "Shruthi claimed she is from Kerala and runs a business in Bengaluru. She spoke fluent Kannada, and during WhatsApp video calls, she would not move. She would be in one place and talk to me. Now I suspect it was an automated recorded call."
The case has been registered under the Information Technology Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section 318 (cheating).