THANE: Falling in love with a stranger can be a risky affair. A 41-year-old woman from Thane, who was keen to get married, learnt it the hard way. She was recently gypped of nearly Rs 4 lakh by an " NRI " whom she met through a matrimonial website The police said the woman, who is employed as a senior executive with a private firm, wanted to get married and had registered on the website, seeking an alliance with a "well-settled, like-minded man" to tie the knot with.A person who identified himself as `Adi P' and who claimed to be an NRI evinced interest in the woman. Soon, they exchanged phone numbers and got chatting on phone and a messaging app.Days later on March 30, Adi professed his love for the woman and told her that he felt the two of them would be compatible as life partners. He told her he planned to visit India on April 24 and said he would meet her and her family. To bolster his claims, Adi even sent pictures of `air-tickets' of his flight to Delhi.In a subsequent chat, Adi told her he would be getting along US $40,000 to India which would tot up to Rs 25 lakh. "He told the woman he would have to pay Rs 98,000 as tax for getting the forex," said a police officer."Although the woman is educated, she blindly believed in whatever the accused told her." Only recently, he told her that he was trying to pay this amount before landing in India, but claimed that he was unable to swipe his bank card due to some technical reason. Adi then urged the woman to help him out."The woman transferred Rs 98,000 into one bank account that the man had specified and Rs 2.61 lakh into another," said the police officer. Adi, said the police, sent the woman pictures of bank receipts, claiming that he had received the funds in his accounts. "These receipts were phoney, the woman's brother found out. That's how Adi's bluff was called," said the officer.

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