Noida: 6 foreigners held for duping ‘hundreds’ of women through dating apps

Noida police on Sunday arrested six foreigners for duping “hundreds of women” whom they contacted through dating apps like Bumble, Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid, an official said.

The detainees include five Nigerian nationals and a Bhutanese woman, and their victims include European countries. One of their recent victims was a journalist working with a news channel in Noida’s Film City, police said.

The accused are natives of Delta State, Nigeria and came to India in 2021 on educational and medical visas for six months. The Bhutanese woman is from Trongsa and is married to one of the accused men, thus becoming a member of the gang.

However, according to the police, they were currently living in Supertech Golf Country along the Yamuna Expressway without valid documents.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Noida) Harish Chander said the gang was arrested after an FIR was lodged at the Sector 20 police station on a complaint filed by a city resident woman for cheating.

According to Chander, these people used dating apps to connect with women and claimed to be doctors living in the Netherlands and the United States, among other places.

“They talked to the women and received them confidentially after expressing their interest in relationship and marriage. They were suddenly told that they had arrived in India with a lot of cash in foreign currency and were caught by the customs officer, urging them to help secure their release.

They would ask for some kind of money transfer, which they promised to return. The story turns out to be false and the women later realize they have been duped, Chander said.

“An investigation has been conducted following which six people, including five Nigerian men and a Bhutanese woman, have been arrested,” the officer told reporters.

The primary investigation revealed that the gang had been operating in an organized manner for over two years while he was here. It is difficult to say the exact number of victims at present, but the number is estimated to be in hundreds, the DCP said.

“We are working on analyzing the data and conversations we received from them to find out more facts in the case,” he said, adding that the police would also check the status of their visas and passports to determine whether they were in India legally. .

Those arrested have been identified as Okolie Prosper, Okolie Stephen, Okosindhi Michael, Umad Roland – all Nigerians – and Kunjgmo, the Bhutanese woman, police said.

According to the police, 17 mobile phones, three laptops, one two-wheeler, three passports and ₹40,000 from the accused, and a bank account linked to them was also seized ₹1.25 million.

An FIR was filed under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Information Technology Act and the accused were produced before a local magistrate who remanded them to judicial custody, police added.