Chandrapur assistant loco pilot loses Rs 11.70 lakh to online task fraud after dating app contact
A 33-year-old assistant loco pilot was cheated of Rs 11,70,957 after a dating app acquaintance lured him into an online buying-and-selling scheme, police said.
A case of online fraud has come to light in Chandrapur, where a young man was cheated of a total of Rs 11,70,957 in the name of online tasks after meeting someone on a dating app. The complainant has filed a report at the Chandrapur cyber police station. Police have registered a case against unidentified accused and further investigation is under way.
According to the complaint, the complainant, Suman Kumar Ram Bilas Prasad, 33, is originally from Bihar. He lives near Sant Tukaram Hall in Ballarpur and works as an assistant loco pilot.
On June 16, 2026, he got acquainted with a woman named "Riya Kapoor" on the social media dating app Truly Madly. Their friendship grew and they began chatting regularly on WhatsApp and Telegram.
On June 26, Riya advised Kumar to create an account (ID) on the website www.esellerstorebuy.xyz and buy and sell products. He was told that he would have to put in money with the seller to complete orders, and that once an order was delivered to the customer, the full amount would return to his wallet along with a profit.
At her urging, Kumar created a user ID. Between June 26 and July 24, 2026, he put in a total of Rs 11,70,957 in 27 instalments through different UPI and bank accounts.
Some days later, when he tried to withdraw the profit he had earned and the principal he had invested, Riya demanded a separate $1,799 to close the account permanently. Kumar said he was unable to pay and asked for his invested money back. She then said he would have to pay $1,655.83 to convert the profit into Indian rupees, or $499 to withdraw the money from a Binance account.
Seeing the continuing demands for money, Kumar realised he had been cheated. When he refused to pay more, the suspected accused, Riya, cut off contact with him on WhatsApp and Telegram.
Once the fraud became clear, Kumar went to the Chandrapur cyber police station and filed a complaint. On his complaint, police have registered a case against unidentified accused under Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and Sections 318(4), 319(2), 308 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. Assistant Police Inspector Nilesh Giri is investigating further under the guidance of Police Inspector Sunil Vitthalrao Gade.
