Nigerians Arrested In Delhi For Duping Indian Women

Two Nigerian citizens were detained in India for allegedly duping a number of ladies they had made friends with on dating and matrimony apps.

The suspects, who have been named Obi Alex and Odua Christopher Chukwudi alias Sunny, were taken into custody in Delhi and Gurugram on February 10, 2023, a few days after two other Nigerian nationals were arrested for allegedly duping 60 women on matrimonial websites.

A lady from Gurugram reportedly called the police on January 14 after she claimed that a man she met online had conned her out of 55,000.

According to Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), the victim met a man named Alex in December of last year through a dating app. He identified himself as a citizen of Germany and claimed to be a commercial pilot.

He said, “Initially, the suspect introduced himself as a businessman who deals with saffron and asked her to invest 40,000 for good returns. The victim had invested 15,000.”

According to ACP Sangwan, the suspect told the woman he was travelling to India to visit her in December. Later, he said that customs officers detained him at the Mumbai airport and demanded 39,700 in exchange for his release. He said that he was detained by customs agents as a result of his extra cash and expensive gifts.

“The victim transferred the money but the suspect again called her and asked for more money. She felt suspicious and refused to pay any more money on which he threatened to edit her photos and circulate them on social media,” the ACP added.

According to the police, a case was filed on January 17 at the Cyber Crime police station under Sections 66D of the Information Technology (IT) Act and Sections 419 (cheating by impersonation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The accused were caught and apprehended in Delhi and Gurugram, according to ACP Sangwan.

The defendants admitted during questioning that they had created fraudulent profiles on social media and matrimony websites in order to befriend women and extort money.

“The suspects have cheated many women on the pretext of being caught by the customs department at the Mumbai airport due to excessive cash and expensive goods,” ACP Sangwan added.