KOCHI: The perils of seeking love and life partners online are abundant, and unfortunately, many individuals continue to fall victim to such frauds, leading to significant financial losses. One recent incident involved a young man from Nayarambalam, who lost Rs 2.37 lakh after getting involved with a foreign national he met online.
The victim had created his profile on a well-known matrimonial website three months ago. He received a call from a woman identifying herself as Chayya Khivarkar, who claimed to be impressed with his profile and currently residing in Canada. Chayya informed him that her parents were British citizens, with her mother being Gujarati, and they decided to proceed with marriage plans.
“Communication between Chayya Khivarkar and the victim continued through various other social media platforms. Eventually, they decided to proceed with their marriage plans, and Chayya agreed to come to India,” a police officer stated.
However, things took a turn when the victim received a call from someone impersonating an official from New Delhi airport. They stated that Chayya’s goods, which allegedly contained gold and currencies, were detained at the airport.
Subsequently, Chayya also reached out to the victim, seeking financial help to clear her goods. She claimed that her British currency was not being accepted by the airport authorities and promised to return the money once her goods were released.
Believing her, the victim managed to arrange Rs 2.37 lakh by borrowing from others and transferred the amount to the bank account provided by Chayya. Unfortunately, after the transaction, Chayya’s phone number became unreachable, and her social media accounts were deactivated. It became evident to the victim that he had fallen victim to fraudsters impersonating Chayya.
He reported the incident to the police, and a case was registered on Friday.
According to M B Latheef, the Station House Officer at Ernakulam Rural Cyber Police Station, the accounts to which the money was sent were successfully traced and located. After the authorities received a report about the fraudulent transaction, immediate action was taken, leading to the freezing of the bank accounts involved in the scam.