A matrimonial profile with a doctor abroad, weeks of daily calls, then a gift stuck at customs — or an investment ‘we can do together’. The relationship is the product.
The pattern
Fast intimacy and a reason they cannot meet or video-call; a crisis or an opportunity that needs money; a ‘customs officer’ or ‘bank manager’ who confirms the story; requests that escalate.
Checks that expose it
Reverse-image-search the photos; insist on a live video call; ask a mutual contact; never send money, gift cards or crypto; check any ‘company’ on MCA or the regulator's site.
If money was sent
Stop all contact, keep every message, report at cybercrime.gov.in and to the platform, tell your bank the beneficiary details.
Checklist
- ☐Live video call before trust
- ☐Photos reverse-searched
- ☐No money, gift cards or crypto to someone you have not met
- ☐‘Gift at customs’ = scam
- ☐Family member told before any transfer
Where to report
- • 1930 — national cyber-crime helpline (money lost: call within the first hour)
- • cybercrime.gov.in — National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal
- • chakshu.sancharsaathi.gov.in — report fraud numbers and SMS
- • sachet.rbi.org.in — RBI complaints about unregistered lenders / deposit schemes