Man Duped of ₹13.3 Lakh in Dating App Investment Scam

Speedy Summary

• Incident: A 41-year-old resident of Begumpet was defrauded of ₹13.3 lakh in an investment scam linked to the dating app “Happn.”
• Modus Operandi:

– The victim was contacted by a woman claiming to be “chandhini Chowdary” via Happn, later shifting interaction to WhatsApp.
– She identified herself as an advisor for trading platform Optinex Markets and encouraged investments.

• Timeline:

– The victim initially invested ₹50,000 and successfully withdrew earnings, which built trust in the scheme.
– Later, he made larger deposits amounting to ₹8,00,000 while being shown fake profits.
– When attempting withdrawals, his account was frozen; he transferred additional funds (₹5.31 lakh and ₹4.55 lakh) under false pretexts like unfreezing fees and taxes.

• Outcome: After losing a total of ₹13.31 lakh, the victim lodged a complaint with Hyderabad Cyber Crime police. Investigations are underway.
• Police Advisory: Citizens are urged to verify trading platforms’ credentials before investing through social or dating apps.

Indian Opinion Analysis

This case highlights new vulnerabilities arising from intersections between social media/dating platforms and financial frauds.Such scams exploit emotional and psychological factors alongside financial trust-first gaining personal access via apps like Happn before escalating into systematic frauds through fabricated investment opportunities.

From a broader outlook:

1. Increased awareness is needed about online security across both personal interactions on digital platforms and financial transactions via online trading websites.
2. Rigorous regulatory frameworks for overseeing dating apps’ role in facilitating communication need attention given their inadvertent use by cybercriminals targeting individuals psychologically unguarded during such interactions.

Ultimately, this incident underscores the pressing need for multi-agency collaboration-between technology providers (dating/trading apps), cybercrime units of law enforcement agencies, and public awareness campaigns-to mitigate growing online scam risks effectively.

Read more at the Hindu.