How a Nigerian cheated Hyd woman of ₹18L by promising marriage
The woman, a resident of SR Nagar in Hyderabad, told the police that she had created a profile on a matrimonial website and a man named Varun Rao had reached out to her. Varun said that he works as a civil engineer in the USA. He contacted her and showed an interest in marrying her. The two started talking on the phone.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 30 Oct 2022 7:31 AM GMT
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad cyber crime police arrested a Nigerian national living in Greater Noida for duping a woman and cheating her of Rs. 18 lakhs with promises of marriage.
The man has been identified as 50-year-old Amuluonye Prince.
The woman, a resident of SR Nagar in Hyderabad, told the police that she had created a profile on a matrimonial website and a man named Varun Rao had reached out to her. Varun said that he works as a civil engineer in the USA. He contacted her and showed an interest in marrying her. The two started talking on the phone.
Later, Varun promised to send a gift from the USA as a sign of their friendship. He claimed he was sending priceless phones, US Dollars, and gold. On 1 June 2022, the woman received a call from fraudsters posing as representatives of the Delhi airport Customs department who told her she had received a gift package containing valuable items and that she would need to pay fees for money laundering, Income Tax, anti-terrorist measures, and GST in order to claim the package. The woman ended up paying Rs. 18 lakhs for various "fees."
The Hyderabad cyber crime police arrested Prince in Greater Noida. Investigation revealed that he came to India in 2012 on a business visa and stayed back even after it expired. The police seized three laptops, eight mobile phones, 10 SIM cards, and two debit cards from him.
Targeting single women
According to the police, Amuluonye Prince, with the help of his friends, had come up with a scheme to commit online fraud and made fake profiles on various matrimonial websites. He sent messages to single women using foreign numbers and pretended to be a foreigner living abroad. He used phone numbers with the +44 and +1 prefixes.
After some time, he told the victims that as a sign of their friendship, he would send them expensive gifts like gold jewellery, cell phones, laptops, and cash. The victims were then forced to pay vast sums of money under various pretenses after they were told that their gift package was held up in the airport due to legal issues.
