Two Nigerians among four held in online matrimonial fraud case

Four persons, including two Nigerians, were arrested from Delhi by Hyderabad Police for allegedly cheating a city-based woman to the tune of Rs 15.62 lakh in a case of online matrimonial fraud, police said today.
The Nigerian offenders--Igbute Kingsley Ucheka alias Tony and Igbute Jude Nwabulor, and two others-- Santosh Kumar from Bihar and Dhirendra Kumar from Uttar Pradesh-- were apprehended on September 13 in Delhi and brought on transit warrant to Hyderabad today, Joint Commissioner of Police (Detective Department) T Prabhakar Rao told reporters here.
"The modus operandi of the group is that they register themselves as prospective bridegrooms on matrimonial websites using fictitious names. They pose as high-profile businessmen or professionals staying abroad and then target women, particularly widows or singles, who are looking for a suitable life partner, on the pretext of marriage alliance," the JCP said.

Once the victims fall into their trap, they start squeezing money from them saying that they are sending some expensive gifts, which the victim need to claim through the Customs, etc, the senior police officer said.
"For this purpose, the Nigerian kingpins lay down an extensive trap with the help of their Indian associates, who provide them bank accounts on fictitious names in different banks, so that the victim can deposit the amounts in these accounts and the Nigerians withdraw the amount," he said.
In this particular case, the accused cheated a middle-aged woman from the city, Rao said adding that seven victims have so far lodged complaints with police, who are carrying out the investigation and trying to ascertain the total amount of fraud.

In June this year, Cyberabad Police had arrested two persons, including a Nigerian national, for allegedly duping a woman school teacher of Rs 18 lakh on the pretext of marrying her.