Five Nigerian men and a Bhutanese woman have been arrested by Gautam Buddha Nagar police for allegedly defrauding hundreds of women after befriending them on different dating apps.
The police authority which disclosed the arrest on Sunday said the accused were arrested on Saturday, adding that they created fake profiles on dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Ok Cupid, Badoo, and Hinge, and befriended women by claiming to be plastic surgeons and natives of India, a report by Express News Service said.
“They used to create a fake story of arrival in India to meet the women and being caught at the airport during Customs checking in the name of bringing foreign currency. After this, a gang member would pose as Customs officer and cheat the women by taking money as Customs duty for releasing the person,” said an official.
The police identified the accused as Okolie Stephen, 34, Okolie Prosper, 32, Okosindhi Michael, 23, Umadi Roland, 26 and Okolie Daniel – all from the Delta State of Nigeria, residing in Supertech Eco Village Golf Country of Dankaur police station.
The other accused, Kunjangmo, 36, hails from Trongsa state of Bhutan and had been operating in the city for the past three months.
The police said the accused persons came to India in 2021 on an education and medical visa for six months but stayed illegally even after their visas expired.
“The Sector-20 police station received information that a woman complained that someone cheated her through a dating app. She had a chat on the app with a person named Dr Malvik. The man had described himself as a Netherlands resident and said he was coming to meet the woman in India.
"Then he told the woman that Customs officials caught him in India and they were asking for money. The woman paid for this but then learned that she had been duped. The Sector-20 police station investigated the matter and arrested five people of Nigerian origin,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Harish Chander.
The woman member of the gang used to talk to the victims posing as a Customs officer. After receiving the money, the accused used to switch off their phones and disappear,” said Chander.
The DCP also said that the police were analysing the chats which showed that the gang had duped hundreds of women. The police said the accused befriended women from countries like Portugal, Sweden, Netherlands as well and cheated them. They said the accused had been doing this for the last eight years.
The police recovered three laptops, 17 mobile phones, one internet dongle, Rs 40,860 cash, three passports, and one scooter, and froze around Rs 1.25 lakh in the State Bank of India (SBI) account of the accused.
They registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 420 (cheating) and Information Technology Act Section 66D at the Sector-20 police station.