Matrimonial fraud: Woman scammed of 4.24 lakh by fake suitor

Mumbai: A 31-year-old woman fell prey to a matrimonial con in which a man she had met on an online portal duped her of Rs 4.24 lakh. Bangur Nagar Police have registered a case of cheating against the accused.
The woman had separated from her husband but their divorce was yet to be formalised. She moved back to her maternal home with her teenage daughter. In 2023 she created an account on a matrimonial website. She received a proposal online from the accused, Sunil, and the two began chatting frequently. Sunil told her that he was a garments trader with shops in Nashik and Pune. He claimed that he too had separated from his first wife and that she had eloped with her paramour. He added that he hailed from Varanasi and had lived at Goregaon and Kalaghoda in Mumbai.
On Jan 26, 2023, Sunil asked the complainant for a small amount of money to invest in the stock market. Thereafter his demands started to escalate, under various pretexts.
He claimed his grandfather was hospitalized at AIIMS , New Delhi, and he needed money to pay his bills. Subsequently, he asked for money to purchase a property at Shahad. He repeatedly claimed to have been injured in road crashes and asked for money for treatment. He also offered to help her get a formal divorce from her husband if she could pay him for legal expenses. He asked her cash as dowry and gifts like a cellphone. On one occasion, he demanded money to get him out of a sticky situation at Kolkata.
The complainant paid him Rs 4.24 lakh totally but he never repaid any of the money nor did he take their relationship ahead. He blocked her number when she told him that she was falling short of money to pay her daughter's school fees. Eventually, she lodged a police complaint.