Fake online dating site busted by Vizag cops, 26 arrested in Kolkata

The cyber crime wing of the Visakhapatnam city police this week busted a sensational case with the arrest of 26 people in Kolkata, who were allegedly running a fake online dating portal, to lure and cheat unsuspecting men across India. This included 23 women who were working at a call centre which was raided, run by Ocelum IT Services Limited, and three other men.

The case had come to light after a citizen from the city, who was working with an MNC, approached officials and said that he had been cheated of over Rs 18 lakh over a period of time, by being shown fake profiles of women, promising that he would get to meet them soon.

In a video of the raid in Kolkata which was released to the media, a police officer was seen questioning one of the women at the call centre, and explaining the modus operandi.

"The accused would recruit women and say that they have a dating website and they would keep receiving calls. They would forward the calls to the women at the call centre, who would talk to the men through the phone and WhatsApp, and send them fake profiles and photos of different women," the police officer is seen saying.

The police also said that there were various 'membership packages' ranging from a few thousand rupees to Rs 2-3 lakh.

"The goal is to make the man deposit as much money as he can to a bank account, the details of which would be provided to the women. But nobody would go to meet the man, they would continue to lure them via the phone," the police officer added. 

In return, the women were promised high incentives where they could earn over Rs 20,000 in this manner. 

The police also said that the accused ran several such offices in Kolkata. The police seized 3 laptops and close to 50 mobile phones, and got the details of an equal number of bank accounts.

The police said that the accused had been taken into custody in Kolkata and the formalities for transit warrants, to bring them to Visakhapatnam, were underway. Investigation officials stated that given the magnitude of the racket, it could have duped many people across the country of several crore in this manner.