Scammers are on the rise in the name of 'online' matrimonial information center claiming to be a matchmaker. I would like to warn against those who set up fake 'profile' and cheat and commit polygamy and those who scam money by claiming that the bridegroom is abroad. After seeing a matrimonial information center ad on WhatsApp, a person called them to find a girl for his younger brother Arun. The girl from that information center informed them that they will send horoscope and photo of some brides for free and if they like the girl, asked them to deposit Rs. 10,000 in their bank account. Similarly, the matrimonial information center sent some bride's photos and horoscopes through 'WhatsApp'.

As the photo of a bride was liked by the groom's family, the groom's brother transferred Rs. 10 thousand to their bank account. After that, their calls were never attended. If contacted from a different number, groom’s family were informed that the bride has gone abroad and is boasting that it may take a few months to get the further information. Gangs such as these who collect photos of thousands of women on social media and deceive the groom's family by pretending to be desirable are growing like wildfire.

Many already married men and some women hide their marriage and give false information about themselves to the people running the 'online' matrimonial information center for the sole purpose of making money and they encourage such fakes. Many of these fake 'profile' names are duping men and women from decent families into polygamy. In recent times, more and more such complaints have been reported in police stations.

Priya, an engineer from Trichy, had registered with an 'online' matrimonial information centre. A young man named Rajesh contacted Priyai. Rajesh has said that his hometown is Bengaluru and he is currently living in London. Jewelery and foreign 'currency' in Indian denominations of Rs. Rajesh has said that he has 2 crores and will send it in a parcel to Priya and they can get married after when he returns to India in 2 months. Priya fully believed in this.

In the next few days, a woman spoke to Priya's cell phone and said that she was speaking from the Delhi airport. She said that a parcel has arrived in her name from London and she needs to pay Rs. 8 lakhs to get customs clearance and receive the parcel. Priya, who was in the dream of receiving a parcel of 2 crores, hurriedly transferred Rs. 8 lakh to the bank account she was informed. In the next moment, all cell phone communications were cut off.

Realizing that she was duped too late, Priya immediately lodged a complaint with the 'cyber' crime police. The police acted quickly and the bank account to which Priya sent Rs. 8 lakh was frozen. They found out that the person who cheated Priya was a Nigerian youth staying in Kolkata and took action.

The basic rule is that on any item sent in a parcel, duty is payable by the sender of the parcel according to the value of the item. Don't lose money by trusting greedy criminals without knowing this. Don't lose money and life by relying on the unknown.

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  • Note: The names appearing in the article described in the series have been changed.

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