06-07-2025
Conned at first sight! 21 held in wine-&-dine dating scam
Mumbai: A lot can happen on a date. Why, one could even get scammed by the partner. In a dating scam case, 21 people, six of them women, have been arrested.
The women would scout for targets on dating apps, call the men to restaurants on a "date", connive with restaurant staff to con the man by generating inflated bills.
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The scam came to light when a man on one such date sensed something amiss at a restaurant in Borivli and called up the police.
The man had matched with a 22-year-old woman, Disha, on a dating app on April 11. They exchanged phone numbers and agreed to meet at a restaurant in Eksar locality a day later. When the man reached the venue around 6 pm, Disha was already waiting for him. The two ordered liquor, a hookah pot, and energy drinks.
Eventually, a bill of Rs 35,000 was presented to the man. He refused to pay the "excessive" amount when a restaurant staffer started to threaten him, said an officer from MHB Colony police station.
The man dialled up police helpline '100' and called the cops to the restaurant. The staff reduced the bill to Rs 30,000, and the woman offered to pay half of it. Later that day, the complainant realised that the UPI payment of Rs 15,000 he had made was to a personal ID, not that of the restaurant.
The police tracked down the UPI ID and also scrutinised the woman's phone call records. They traced the woman, and after inquiring with her, busted the racket. A team led by deputy commissioner Anant Bhoite and senior inspector Ganesh Pawar arrested 21 people.
The police said that the women had been conniving with restaurant staff who generated inflated bills. The man was threatened into paying up, and the woman later got her cut from the restaurant staffer.
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In another case, a photographer was duped of Rs 32,000 by a woman he met on a dating app in May. The woman, Preeti, called him to a restaurant at Malad where he was forced to pay Rs 32,000. The police said they are are now investigating if the same gang is involved in this case too.
