Mid-day Investigation: Dating scam gang escapes to Pune

mid-day reporter Shirish Vaktania with one of the women from the dating app site during the sting-op. Pic/Satej Shinde

Following a sting operation by mid-day that exposed a dating app scam in Mumbai, the gang involved has reportedly relocated to Pune and resumed its fraudulent activities there. A source in the know told mid-day, "The gang has shifted to Pune to continue its operations. Eighteen months ago, the gang was active in various clubs, especially in the Someshwarwadi and Pashan areas of Pune. They are reportedly now active in the Koregaon Park area of Pune."

The dating app scam gang was initially active in Delhi after the pandemic. During the pandemic, many clubs lost business. After the pandemic, some people came up with new strategies to revive these businesses by renting out restaurants, clubs, coffee lounges, and bars in Delhi. They hired girls to attract customers and entice them to spend money.

Subsequently, the girls began using dating apps to lure men to these establishments. In collaboration with the club management, they would scam these customers, and this practice continues to this day. As these businesses started gaining traction, others began adopting similar methods and thus they spread across the country.

The Godfather club shut down in Mumbai after mid-day's exposé. Pic/Aditi Haralkar

The gang has moved through several cities, including Dehli, Goa, Jaipur, Dehradun, Agra, Lucknow, Bhopal, Nagpur, and Jabalpur, before coming to Mumbai, where they were active for the past 18 months. Following the recent exposure of their scam in Mumbai and an FIR registered against them at the Amboli police station, the gang has returned to Pune.

Members of the gang do not receive a fixed salary; instead, they earn commissions based on the bills generated from club visits. A "table" refers to a person who was lured by a girl through dating apps and brought to the club. The bill generated from these visits is shared among the gang members according to their roles.

According to the source, the person you match with and chat with on dating apps may not be the same girl you meet in person. "Male members of the gang create the profiles of girls and engage in conversations with targets. After arranging a date and obtaining the target's phone number, they pass the details to the actual girls along with the contact information. The girl then arranges to meet the target at a secure location via WhatsApp," the source said.

The source also mentioned that when someone matches with a girl on the app and a conversation begins, the details are sent to the gang members via their WhatsApp group to prevent others from following or liking that person.

The bills generated at these clubs often have incorrect GST numbers printed on them. Representation pic

Once at the club or lounge, the girls and gang members inflate the bill by adding charges for expensive drinks and other entertainment. Of the total bill amount, 20 per cent goes to the girl, and a similar percentage is given to the male gang member who created the girl's profile and initiated the conversation. This male member may also attend to the victim as a waiter in the club.

The bills generated at these clubs often have incorrect GST numbers printed on them. These bills are edited using mobile apps, and the payments are not transferred to the club's account but to the gang members' accounts instead. The leader of the gang, who was initially based in Mumbai, specifically targets clubs located in upscale areas that are on the verge of closing down. He negotiates with the club owners or managers, typically agreeing on a profit-sharing model of 60/40 or, in some cases, 70/30.

From 2 pm to 9 pm, customers are lured to these clubs through dating apps. If the club has no bookings, the operation can extend late into the night. According to the source, when customers arrive at the club via dating apps, no other couples are allowed entry to maintain the illusion of exclusivity. Additionally, the drinks consumed by the girls on these dates are not alcoholic. Instead, they are energy drinks, tea, water, or various cocktail juices disguised to look like alcohol.

Many such gangs operate across the country, out of which two are strong gangs whose members are active in various cities of India. The mid-day sting exposed one gang that was active in Mumbai city. Another gang is currently active and operating in Delhi and surrounding cities. Speaking with Senior Inspector Jaywant Shinde of Amboli police station, he said, "We have conducted an in-depth investigation, and our investigation officer, Biradar, and a team have been formed to conduct this investigation."

PSI Hari Biradar of Amboli police station said, "We received many complaints against Godfather Club, and we also called all the complainants. They are not coming forward to give their statements. We are requesting the victims to come forward and give their complaints so we can nab all the accused in this dating app scam racket. The Godfather Club has been closed since the mid-day report. We are tracing all the accused girls in this case. They are no longer in Mumbai and have escaped to another location outside the city."