A case of online dating fraud has surfaced in Kolkata when a young man was cheated after his meeting with a woman on the popular dating app Bumble. The victim had just matched with a woman on Bumble. The woman recommended actually meeting on the app after a brief chat.
She took him to a café in the Ranikuthi neighbourhood, an area in the city relatively bustling. Since the man was trusting the interaction and was excited at the prospect of a social meeting, he agreed to the meetup. But their first meeting didn’t go quite on track. When the woman entered the café, she appeared to order some items of food and drink.
Orders had been placed quickly and hurriedly without much discussion, with orders that left the man feeling quite uncomfortable but hesitant to speak up. The bill at the conclusion of the meeting was ₹8,500. The woman alleged that the man should have paid the full amount, reports.
Caught off guard, he was forced to settle the bill. The woman’s actions post-payment also served to fuel the suspicion. Almost immediately afterward, she left the café and shut down contact with the victim. Attempts to reach her later were also said to have failed, leaving the man thinking he had been specifically chosen by the attackers.
Following the incident, the victim made a formal complaint with the police. Investigators are also now investigating the case and worry that it could be part of a coordinated scam. The operation appears to involve the woman and even potentially the café, and the woman and café may have had a role in it.
The police are now investigating CCTV at the cafe, transaction records, and app-based communication between both parties. And if the fraud does hold up, it could be symptomatic of the more general culture of staged meetings and billing fraud. That's a disturbing indicator that the dangers of online dating apps are growing at too fast a clip.
These apps are often used for authentic connections, such as Bumble, but even in them, people say to be cautious when you are connecting with new people. Picking familiar public spaces where people know you’re going, organising things ahead of time, listening for signs of unusual behaviour, particularly in financial transactions.
It's a timely issue, and the authorities have told residents they ought to report such crimes and complaints early, as the earlier you report, the better and at the same time the more you can catch repeat offenders and prevent further cases from starting up. In an era of communication by the internet, lessons that this case has taught us is to be watchful, even away from the company of people we do not know.
