Delhi: A journalist allegedly fell prey to a fraud where he paid a bill of over ₹15,000 after he met a girl on dating app in Delhi's Rajouri Garden. The journalist alleged that he was approached by a girl on Bumble and asked to meet at Rajouri Garden, to which the journalist agreed. The woman then took him to a bar and ordered few drinks for herself after which the victim received a bill of ₹15,886, which he paid.
The woman left the bar claiming that she was going with her brother and was not reachable after that. The journalist then understood that he was scammed by the girl. The incident occurred on Friday (November 10).
The journalist narrates the ordeal
The journalist narrated the incident on his social media account and said, "Fraud Alert- Incident Date: 10.11.2023. I am 25 and single. I thought, let's take a chance on Bumble and see if there is a genuine person to date."
"A girl named Divya Sharma (fake name) approached me and asked me to meet her at Rajouri Garden. She convinced me that she was looking for something meaningful. She took me to a bar, The Race Lounge and Bar. Despite not being convinced of the place, Aifya (her real name, as per Truecaller) insisted that I sit there."
"She ordered some drinks for herself. I don't drink, so I just ordered a Red Bull. The bill for a hookah, 2-3 glasses of wine, 1 vodka shot, chicken tikka, and a water bottle was ₹15,886. I was shocked after seeing the bill. I paid for the bill. They tapped my card four times as there was some issue with their machine."
"Before leaving the place, I went to the washroom, and upon returning, I realized that the bill I left on the table was not there. She insisted on leaving the place, saying that her brother is coming to pick her up. When I came home, I realized that this is a scam.
"I checked, and she had just disappeared and was not picking up my calls. Then I searched and found a story on Moneycontrol (published on Sep 5), and I got to know about how these clubs and bars are hiring girls and doing this fraud."
"This is not just about money; this is emotional and mental abuse for a person who thinks that the person sitting in front of him is genuine. I investigated the whole thing and found some reviews on the Google page of that lounge."
"In the reviews, many people described how they were forced to pay an unfair bill. Many people are scammed by these clubs. Late at night, I called the Axis Bank credit card helpline and put the payment in dispute.
"I called the cyber police helpline many times but got no response. This post is not about how I lost my money; this is about these people fooling many boys, and this is not just a fraud; this is emotional harassment."
"They don't have any fear; they hired bouncers to force people to pay the unfair bill. This whole racket is big, and they are operating in many cafes and clubs in the Rajouri Garden Area."
Such scams are on the rise
Such scams are on the rise in the national capital where the girls who are hired by the restaurant and bar owners meet youngsters on dating app and take them to the bars and restaurants.
Highly inflated bills are presented to customers
The bar owners then present a highly inflated bill to the youngsters, which they are forced to pay. The customers also cough up the amount as they are threatened by the bouncers to pay the bill.
The police should take necessary steps to avoid such incidents as many people are falling prey to these scams.
