Kolkata: A 56-year-old man from Baguiati alleged he was duped of nearly Rs 65 lakh by a woman he met on a dating app, who persuaded him to invest in a fraudulent online trading scheme.
Police said the two connected on 27 Aug, after which the woman introduced herself as Niharika Agarwal, and began chatting with him regularly. She gradually urged him to invest money into a trading platform which she claimed would deliver high returns.
According to the FIR filed with the Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police Station on Saturday, the woman urged him to invest in online share trading. At first, he refused, but she continued to lure him, even sending fake screenshots showing supposed investments and profits to gain his trust.
Trusting his "phone girlfriend" he eventually gave in. His first investment was Rs 40,000, and he received a return of Rs 6,000, which strengthened his belief in her. According to the complaint, between 5 Sept and 29 Oct, he transferred a total of Rs 64,60,650 from two bank accounts.
The fraud came to light when he tried to withdraw his returns but the woman allegedly told him he would suffer "huge losses" if he withdrew the money and later demanded additional payments to process the transaction. That's when he realised he had fallen prey to a scam. She then reportedly stopped responding to messages and calls.
Cops are probing the digital trail of the transactions, verifying the accused's identity, and investigating the platform used to lure him.