A romantic outing ends in Panic and extortion as a woman and 2 fake cop’s dupe a software engineer using a drug bust drama
A 28-year-old software engineer had a casual Bumble date that turned into a traumatic experience when he became a victim of a ₹2 lakh extortion scam. This scam was set up by a woman and two men who pretended to be Narcotics Control Bureau officers.
The victim, a techie from Koramangala, matched with a woman named Shalini on the dating app Bumble. After chatting for a bit, they chose to meet in person. On July 21, he picked her up from HSR Layout, and they drove to a quieter area in Sector 6 to talk.
Suddenly, two men jumped into the car and claimed to be officers from the Narcotics Control Burebau. They showed fake IDs and accused the couple of having drugs, saying they had proof of illegal activity. The techie, completely shocked, insisted he was innocent.
The fake officers started threatening him with arrest, saying they would leak his pictures online and tell his employer. The woman acted like she was panicking and began to cry, adding to the chaos. Under this pressure, the group demanded money to “settle” the situation.
Worried about humiliation and losing his job, the techie transferred ₹2 lakh via UPI right then. After he sent the money, the fake officers and the woman disappeared.
It was only later that he realized he had been scammed. He reported the incident at HSR Layout Police Station. Bengaluru Police have registered a case for cheating and criminal intimidation and are now reviewing CCTV footage and digital payment records to find the criminals.
Police have advised the public to be careful with online dating scams and to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement right away.