Matrimonial Fraud: Serial cheater from Vijayawada lures women with life in US, scams crores

Hyderabad: The Cyber Crime Police, Cyberabad, arrested a habitual cybercrime offender, known for cheating women he would match on matrimonial websites in the guise of marriage and foreign life.

His latest crime was exposed when a woman filed a complaint of being cheated out of more than Rs 2 crores by him.

The accused, identified as Potluri Sribala Vamshi Krishna (37) from Poranki village in Vijayawada, would create fake profiles to target innocent women seeking a groom on matrimonial websites. Once a woman accepts his request, he would introduce himself as an employee of a multinational company.

He would pretend to have been given an on-site offer in the US and promise to take the woman with him to the US after marriage. Once he earns their trust, he would cheat them crores of rupees in the name of visa processing.

Accused coerced victims to take loans to increase CIBIL

As per police records, on March 16, the Cyber Crime police received a complaint from a woman that last November, she uploaded her bio on the Shaadi matrimony app. She matched with a profile belonging to a Rishi Kumar, a US resident.

They progressed to talking on WhatsApp, where Rishi Kumar, claiming himself to be an assistant director at Glenmark Pharma, soon proposed to her marriage.

However, Rishi Kumar falsely informed her that to process a US Partner Visa, her CIBIL score needs to be 845, higher than her actual score of 743. He purportedly offered to assist in increasing her CIBIL score by facilitating loans from his company, Glenmark.

He manipulated her into obtaining numerous loans, including personal loans, credit cards, and even a car loan, under the pretext of boosting her CIBIL score. Additionally, Rishi Kumar persuaded her cousin to participate in the scheme by promising her job opportunities at Microsoft Australia.

Under false pretences, Rishi Kumar also coerced the victim’s cousin's sister into taking substantial loans, with promises of repayment within a short period. Throughout the ordeal, Rishi Kumar and his alleged accomplice, Nirmala, who claimed to be a board member at Microsoft, manipulated her cousin into believing in the legitimacy of the scheme, resulting in her substantial financial losses.

Despite Rishi Kumar’s assurances of refunds and reports of a purportedly increased CIBIL score, she and her cousin have suffered significant financial losses amounting to Rs 2,71,79,044 (Rs 2.71 crores). They asked for legal action against Surapaneni Rishi Kumar and a suspected accomplice, Nirmala.

Accused was in multiple relationships simultaneously

Potluri Sribala is addicted to online betting and horse races and to keep up that habit, he hatched a plan to cheat women of their money through matrimonial apps.

According to the plan, he registered his profile with Shaadi.com as Potluri and paid Rs 2,500 for membership. Thereafter, he sent his interest to many profiles. Around five to six profiles accepted his request. After accepting his request, he contacted them through different phone numbers and WhatsApp and discussed the family and career by gaining trust.

Gradually in those discussions, he promised to take them to the US on a partner visa. By lying that their CIBIL score is not sufficient to get the visa, and to increase the CIBIL, he pushes them to take loans from different apps and banks. Falsely believing the fraudster, the women would do so. Later, the accused would take the Internet banking credentials, transfer the lump sum to his bank accounts and use them lavishly.

Based on the above complaint, a case was registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station, Cyberabad and investigated. This is not the first time he has done this. Potluri Sribala Vamshi Krishna deceived many innocent women on Shaadi.com and was also arrested in nine cases. The police also seized many of his bank accounts from HDFC, Axis and others.

Public advisory

1. Do not believe online websites blindly, even if they are well-known, sophisticated matrimonial websites.

2. Do not transfer any amount without meeting the person physically or without proper verification.

3. Don’t believe SMSes/WhatsApp from strangers and don’t click on unknown links.

4. Report the crime/suspicion on Cybercrime.gov.in or Dial 1930.