The Delhi Police's crime branch has arrested four foreign nationals, including two Nigerians, from Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida area for allegedly cheating people by posting fake matrimonial profiles, officials said.
Raymond (28) and Melody (21) from Nigeria, and Kareem Ridwan (27) and Osas Clifford (28) have been arrested. They were staying at Greater Noida, police said.
The arrests were made following a complaint from a woman in Pune.
The woman said she came across the matrimonial profile of Tiwari Pandit on a site and they started speaking to each other, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Cyber, Anyesh Roy, said.
Police said after gaining her trust, Pandit told her that he lived abroad and he would send his bag to her which he would collect later, police said.
Later, she got a call from a woman, who claimed to be from the Customs and Excise Department. The caller asked her to deposit Rs 24,000 in a bank account for clearance of the luggage, which she did, Roy said.
However, when more money was asked from her, she got suspicious and lodged a complaint. She realised that she was duped, the officer said.
During investigation, police got a tip-off that the accused persons would be present at a flat in Greater Noida to meet their accomplices, Roy said.
Police raided the flat and apprehended two brothers Raymond and Melody, Roy said, adding later, two more accused persons were also arrested from Greater Noida.
Three laptops and 11 mobile phones were recovered from their possession, police said. It was also found that they were in possession of expired visas and two fake passports.
During interrogation, the accused persons disclosed that they got the idea to fool people from the webistes and social media, the DCP said.
They used to make fake profiles on matrimonial sites by collecting information and photos from Facebook and Instagram. Then they cheated people by posting fake profiles, Roy said.
Raymond and Melody came to India from Nigeria and were doing some garment export work. They could not pursue their work due to financial crisis and later started duping people through various web portals, Roy added.
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