Businesswoman defrauded of Rs 12 lakh by ‘US-based cosmetic surgeon’ she met on dating app

After some time, the fraudster started asking the complainant for money on various pretexts, police said. At first, he said his mother had sustained a head injury and he required money for her treatment, police said. On another occasion, he took money to purchase medicinal oils from seeds available in Bengaluru, police said. Later, he sought more than Rs 6 lakh to start a business venture of these same medicinal oils in which his father and the complainant’s father would be partners, police said.

The fraudster later said that he was coming to India. The woman then received a communication that he had been apprehended at the airport for “not having a United Nations Green Card” on his passport and on this pretext, he sought Rs 2.7 lakh from her for his release, police said. The fraudster took money from her saying that he was unwell and also to “release the seized dollars he was bringing to India”.

The woman and her family members recently approached the police station after realising that she had been defrauded, police said. The complainant ended up paying Rs 12.3 lakh to the online fraudsters, police said. After preliminary inquiry, an FIR was registered.

Inspector (Crime) Santosh Patil said, “We have launched a probe into the various facts provided by the complainant.”