The MHB Police have arrested 21 individuals, including 15 men and 6 women from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, in an inter-state online dating fraud case. The gang allegedly operated from the Hotel Grand Inn in Navi Mumbai for the past week, duping unsuspecting victims using fake profiles on dating apps.
Police investigations revealed that Mohasin and Farhan were the ringleaders who orchestrated the scam. They recruited accomplices from Delhi and U.P., setting up fake female profiles on dating platforms. Men from the gang posed as these women to establish trust with targets.
Victims were lured into meetups at bars or lounges, where accomplices, posing as dates, ordered expensive food, drinks, hookahs, and cigarettes. Bills were deliberately inflated. When victims attempted to pay via QR code, the money was routed—either to the hotel manager’s bank account or to the gang’s accounts. In exchange, the hotel staff received a 50% share of the loot.
One victim, a 26-year-old loan-recovery officer from Santacruz, met “Disha Sharma” on Tinder in April. During an April 12 meetup at Times Square Hotel, the duo incurred a whopping Rs35,000 bill. Initially refusing payment, the victim was coerced into paying Rs30,000, after which the scammer abruptly disappeared.
MHB Police traced the accused to Hotel Grand Inn after a tip-off. All 21 suspects, including hotel staff complicit in the scam, were arrested as they returned to the hotel. They have been remanded until July 8. With further interrogation underway, the police anticipate uncovering many more victim cases.
