With scams hitting matters of the heart and matrimonial fraud cases on the rise, the cyber cell of the Mumbai Police has been working with matrimonial sites to eradicate fraudsters and also to keep a check on extortion taking place on these websites. Pre-matrimonial verification agency, ShaadiVerify.com, has revealed following an independent survey that three per cent of the cases it investigated have all been potential matrimonial scams. Furthermore, eight of 10 cases it received for background verification proved to have some inconsistencies with their online profiles. The agency has claimed that as per a recent report, in Maharashtra, a total of 96 matrimonial fraud cases have been registered between 2015 and May 2018, of which only 43 were detected by the police. However, fearing disrepute, less than 10 per cent of the victims registered the cases with the police for further action. This, experts feel, encourages fraudsters to commit the crime without any fear of getting traced. There is also a proportionate increase in the number of matrimonial frauds as well. Users on matrimonial sites get a notification every time there is a new user, and they accordingly start stalking or gathering information about the subject. "Mostly it's the women who fall into this trap, and the fraudsters make it a point to never show their face to the victim. When the right opportunity arises, they begin extortion, and flee having extorted anywhere between Rs 10,000 and Rs 70 lakh," said a cyber crime officer. MODUS OPERANDI

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