Dating app scam: Women used to trap men on fake dates got only 20 per cent cut

The mastermind behind the interstate dating app racket has been identified as Delhi resident Ankur Meena 35 who also goes by the monikers Happy and Meena Defaulter His key associate Pratham operates under the aliases Chandu and Praveen The cops who raided a Goregaon hotel last week in connection with the scam arresting six suspects including two women are in hot pursuit of the brains behind the operationThe arrested accused provided the police with the names of more individuals involved in the scam but the authorities have not disclosed themAccording to the police Meena a Delhi resident who hails from Ghaziabad had been overseeing the network which included clubs in Pune and Mumbai for the past two years Meena secured partnerships by assuring club owners of rapid business growth and high profits Once a deal was made Pratham and his associates managed the daytoday operations including bill collectionSuspects arrested in connection with the dating app scam being brought out of the Hotel Royal Inn on September 4 PicAnurag AhireMeena had allegedly roped in Mumbai residents including socalled social workers and goons who were tasked with preventing activists fromaffecting operationsStrongarm tacticsPratham was identified as the individual who threatened a victim who had filed an FIR at Bangur Nagar police station When the man couldnrsquot make a payment Pratham escorted him from Godfather Club amp Lounge and forced him to withdraw money from an ATM using the cardless method He presented himself to the victim as Praveen though he is known as Chandu within the gangPratham aka Chandu aka PraveenMeena allegedly enticed men and women working in clubs with promises of large commissions often flying them from Delhi to Mumbai as needed He also managed their accounts and financial transactions Meena would visit the clubs in the evenings to review accounts and collect earningsThe accused revealed that Meena initially promised his accomplices a 3035 per cent commission but would hand out lower amounts after the job was done For example if a woman helped rack up a Rs 41000 bill and taxes and GST inflated the amount to Rs 51000 the commission was calculated based on the initial figure Meena would then pay the woman and her associates just 20 per cent of thisSIM card fraudThe investigation also uncovered that bills were generated using a mobile application that could not be traced with fake GST numbers allowing the scamsters to defraud both the government and unsuspecting customersThe men and women involved in the racket used SIM cards sourced from different states for Rs 1000 per card to lure victims and maintain communication Around 300 SIM cards were used each month which were subsequently blockedPayments from victims were processed through accounts lsquorentedrsquo by the gang similar to cyber fraud schemes used to transfer illegal fundslsquoKingpin wants revengersquoFilmmaker and menrsquos rights activist Deepika Narayan Bharadwaj said ldquoWe worked hard to expose the gangrsquos activities sharing news and their fraudulent tactics on social media to raise public awareness While the Mumbai police have arrested several gang members and revealed their operations the kingpin Meena has gone underground and as I was involved in exposing this gang he and his gang members are planning to execute a criminal act against me to teach me a lessonrdquoShe added that she possessed WhatsApp chats proving the gang planned to carry out an act that would be to detrimental her life and wellbeing ldquoI have lodged an online complaint with the police I urge the cops to arrest the kingpin and his gang as soon as possiblerdquo she added300No of SIM cards used by the racketeers each monthSep 4Day 6 suspects were nabbed during a raid in Goregaon