Delhi club uses fake dating profiles created to trap high-paying customers, 4 held

The fake profiles on dating apps such as Tinder and Bumble used pictures of women hired by the club to pose as the date of the person targeted.

Once at the club, the woman would ask the unsuspecting targeted person to order expensive drinks and food. “The accused then collaborated with club management to generate inflated bills, forcing the victims to pay the huge amount,” DCP (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said.

Police had been tracking a group setting up such fake dates for months. “Officially, the victims never came forward with a complaint, but there were reports of people being duped on dating apps,” a police official said.

The breakthrough in the case came when an informer tipped off SI Ajay Tomar of the Special Task Force team of Shahdara about the accused getting hired by a club in Karkardooma.

At around 3 pm on Sunday, a police team, dressed in plain clothes to blend in with the crowd, reached the club with the informer.

The informer pointed towards the four men standing outside the entry gate of the club, on the ground floor of a mall.

The accused were arrested on the spot, and their mobile phones were seized.

“An FIR under Sections 318(4)/3(5) of the BNS was registered at P.S. Anand Vihar for further legal proceedings,” DCP Gautam said.

According to the FIR, their mobile phones had multiple dating apps, with fake profiles being used by the four accused. “Their involvement with other clubs is being looked into. Search for the women who have been involved is going on,” a police official said.