Youth proposes marriage to FB friends dupes them of lakhs

Bengaluru: The cyber crime wing of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) nabbed a 28-year-old youth who is alleged to have duped women he met on Facebook after promising marriage.

The arrested has been identified as Akash Bhat alias Pramod, a resident of Varthur here.

As per police Akash would create fake Facebook profiles and send friend requests to women based on family background and work. Once the request was accepted, he would chat with them, introducing himself as the branch manager of a reputed multi-national company in Whitefield.

Later on Akash would propose marriage and seek “financial help” citing a sudden “rough phase” in life. He managed to procure money from several women with this modus operandi. Once the women transferred money to his account, he would switch off his mobile and delete the Facebook profile, said the police.

Based on a complaint filed by a victim, cybercrime police arrested Akash and recovered a car, a laptop, mobile phone and gold ornaments worth Rs 62 lakh.

He has been taken into 7-day police custody and investigation is ongoing to check his criminal background.