Matrimonial Website Fraud — Advocate at Asansol Court

The accused creates a profile with false photographs, false income details or a false foreign address. Trust is built over days and weeks of messages and calls. Then a story appears: customs duty to release a gift, a medical emergency, a visa fee, or a sudden business loss. The victim transfers money by UPI, bank transfer or gift cards. Once the amounts rise and the victim grows suspicious, contact simply stops and the profile is deleted. The trap is that each small payment seems reasonable until the total becomes very large.

A related fraud is the fake marriage itself. Documents are shown, a small ceremony may even be arranged, and then the accused extracts money and property before disappearing. In both cases the victim keeps hoping that the other person is genuine, and that very hope is what the fraudster exploits to extend the deception over a longer period. Recognising the pattern early is the best protection against a larger loss.

File a written complaint at the cyber crime police station for Paschim Bardhaman or your Asansol police station. List the profile name, the phone numbers, the bank accounts and UPI IDs that received the money, and the exact dates and amounts of each transfer. Cheating under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and cheating by personation using a computer resource under the Information Technology Act are the core offences to invoke in your complaint.

Under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, a zero FIR can be registered and transferred to the correct police station, so you need not travel to the offender's location. You may also complain on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, cybercrime.gov.in, and use the 1930 helpline at once for a recent money transfer, so that the cyber cell can try to freeze the funds before they are withdrawn through layers of accounts. The faster you report, the greater the chance that the money is still traceable.

Matrimonial fraud cases are won or lost on proof, so treat the evidence as your most valuable asset. Save the full chat, the profile screenshots, the emails, the bank statements and the UPI transaction records. Do not delete the conversation out of shame, and do not reset the phone. Copy everything to a separate device or drive, and keep the original phone available for examination, because electronic records are governed by the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, and a certificate about the device may be required.

Note the exact dates and amounts, because the police trace money through the banking trail and need precise figures to follow the funds. If the accused used a photograph of a real person, that person may be a separate victim whose identity was stolen, and the police can connect the two cases. Keep the platform's acknowledgement of any report you made about the fake profile, as it may later support a claim against the website itself. Organising the evidence chronologically greatly assists the investigating officer.

The criminal case punishes the accused, but your losses need a civil claim to be recovered. You can sue the fraudster for the money transferred and for damages, using cheating and money had and received as the legal basis of the suit. Where the money is still traceable, the police can seek to freeze the accounts and the court can order restitution to you during the trial itself, before the case finally concludes. Restitution depends on the money still being available when that order is made.

A claim against the matrimonial website is harder but possible where the platform was told about a fake profile and failed to act, or failed to verify a user despite a legal duty to do so. Intermediaries have protection under the Information Technology Act, but that protection can be lost if they ignore a valid complaint. An Asansol lawyer can assess whether the platform is liable on the specific facts of your case.

Never transfer money to a person you have only met online, however convincing the story may be. Verify claims of foreign residence, employment and family independently, and be suspicious of any sudden emergency that requires an urgent transfer. For a marriage proposal, insist on meeting the family in person and on seeing documentary proof. If you have already paid, stop all further transfers immediately and preserve the evidence before you report to the police.

After filing, follow up with the investigating officer and keep a record of every communication and document. If new profiles contact you, report them at once as a fresh complaint. Support is available through the District Legal Services Authority in Asansol, which provides free legal aid to eligible persons, and through a lawyer who can run the criminal case and the civil recovery suit together in a coordinated manner.