Search for life partner turns costly: Bengaluru techie duped by ‘UK-based bride’, loses Rs 79 lakh in fake trading scam | Bengaluru News

BENGALURU: A 32-year-old software engineer, searching for a life partner on a matrimonial website, fell prey to cybercrooks and was conned out of Rs 79.3 lakh.According to the complaint filed by Rishi (name changed), a resident of Ramamurthy Nagar, the fraud began in the first week of Feb 2025. A woman with a profile under the name of Gunturi Rohini Varma conveyed interest in him on the matrimonial website. She claimed she was from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and was working in the United Kingdom. She said she would visit India within six months to pursue marriage discussions. The duo exchanged phone numbers and started texting and making calls regularly. She even concocted details of her parents and her job in the UK, claiming she was associated with a trading firm.Rishi told police Rohini communicated through the numbers 9557079826 (India) and +44 7563 712982 (UK). Over time, she gained his trust. She later spoke about an investment opportunity that would offer high returns, saying it would help them settle down.She explained how trading works and tricked him into making payments to different bank accounts she provided. Meanwhile, other fraudsters also contacted him and guided him about the investment. They showed him the investment and profit earned on a website on a daily basis, and the balance was dazzling.When Rishi wanted to withdraw money, she allegedly told him that the funds could not be returned unless he paid additional charges, citing tax and processing fees. “I was emotionally pressured and blackmailed into making these payments out of fear of losing all my money. The payments happened between March and June 2025,” he said. Rishi claims he understood it was fraud only after his last call with her on June 19. She demanded Rishi make more payments to be eligible to withdraw the crores of rupees he had earned as profit. When he refused, she stopped entertaining his calls, and others did too.Rishi filed a complaint with East CEN Crime police on June 23 as he was confused and shocked over losing a huge amount of money. He paid Rs 72.3 lakh in 18 transactions to 12 different bank accounts. One of the fraudsters communicated with him through the number +44 7907 448902, claiming to be a customer care executive of the trading firm. A case has been registered under the Information Technology Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Section 318 (cheating). “Since the complainant delayed in approaching us, it is difficult for us to recover his money. The fraudsters transferred the money to different bank accounts and withdrew some amount,” said a senior police officer, adding that it is better to stop communicating with profiles that mention trading and report it to the cyber helpline 1930.