‘Tinder Date’ became A Scam-y Nightmare For IAS Aspirant

‘Tinder Scam’ Once Again! The victim, this time, was an ‘IAS Aspirant’.

It all started when the victim swiped right on a woman named Versha on Tinder, they matched. They chatted online for some time and then planned to celebrate Versha's birthday at the Black Mirror Cafe in the Vikas Marg neighbourhood of East Delhi. A birthday celebration was all a well-planned scam, which the victim was falling prey to.

Then, both met in a café, ordered two cakes, four shots of non-alcoholic beverage, and snacks. However, soon Versha abruptly left the date saying that she had a family emergency.

As she left, the victim was handed over the bill. Seeing the bill, he was stunned. Why? Because those three-four items they ordered were charged Rs 1, 21,917.70 by the café. No hundreds, no thousands but one lakh rupees.

He refused to pay this much money. However, he was threatened and forced to pay. The victim transferred the amount online to Akshay Pahwa, one of the cafe's owners.

Right away, leaving the café, he reported all this to the police. Inspector Sanjay Gupta led a four-member police team to investigate the case. They quickly caught Pahwa, who revealed that he, Ansh Grover, and his cousin Vansh Pahwa were co-owners of the Black Mirror Cafe.

Versha (the girl on tinder) was recognized by Pahwa as 25-year-old Afsan Parveen, who also goes by the names Ayesha and Noor. Parveen looked for a job during the day and resorted to these scams at night.

On dating apps like Tinder and Bumble, she was said to have seduced men and taken them to hidden cafes where she would flee away after a short conversation. The cafe then forced the men into paying huge bills even though they had eaten very little food or beverages.

Shockingly, Parveen was arrested while on a date with another man from Mumbai she had met on Shaadi.com.

Well, Dating Apps look best to find a ‘perfect partner’. However, risks involved in online dating look scary! As all things have solutions, here’s how you can save yourself from these scams.

How to ‘Date’ Safely on the Dating Apps

Money Involved, Straight Away Red Flag: What’s the role of money in a romantic chit-chat? well, scam intentions. Never send money to someone you are chatting online on these apps. Where will your money go, it is very difficult to trace.
Know First, Meet Second: Don’t skip the talking and knowing stage and jump onto the meeting stage. Meeting unknown persons can take a very dark turn, extreme examples be like murder, sexual assault, and these types of money frauds.
Don’t reveal ‘personal’ information too much: Reveal what's relevant and what the other person is sharing. Leaking your ‘too-personal’ information to someone unknown can drop you in trouble. So be careful!

Well, these were some tips and advice! Hope everyone’s ‘Dating Journey’ on dating apps will be romance-y and not scam-y!