Mumbai: A match on a dating app, an invitation to a fancy restaurant and a bill that will not just burn a hole in the pocket but set whatever you’re wearing on fire – the standard modus operandi of ‘scam dates’ has claimed many victims.
Lawyer and activist Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj recently shared about one such scam that has already claimed 12 victims.
“MUMBAI DATING SCAM EXPOSE. THE GODFATHER CLUB ANDHERI WEST. BRAZEN SCAMMING EVERYDAY. 12 victims in touch. Trap laid through Tinder, Bumble. Bill amounts 23K- 61K. 3 men trapped by the same girl,” she wrote.
She posted a few bills that show how much some of these men paid, including an invoice of ₹61,743. The bill shows four items, including two cocktails priced at ₹5,000 each. She also added follow ups posts to talk more about the scam and the club where it is happening.
In a follow-up post, she also shared the scammers’ “modus operandi. “Dating app connect. Push for quick meet. Meeting place Pizza Express or Metro. Then insists Godfather. Orders drink, hookah, and fire shot. The guy isn’t shown a menu card. Bill in thousands within an hour. She absconds. Bouncers corner guy to beat if not paid.”
According to Ms Bhardwaj’s post, the scam begins innocently enough on popular dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Hinge and OKCupid. Men connect with women who quickly express interest in meeting up. The chosen venue is often The Godfather Club or another similar establishment in the vicinity. Once at the location, the women reportedly order expensive items such as high-end liquor or hookah, none of which appear on the menu. The men, eager to impress, are unaware of the looming financial trap.
After the orders have been placed, the women abruptly leave, often citing an emergency, leaving the men to face an exorbitant bill. The sums involved are staggering, with bills ranging from ₹ 23,000 to ₹ 61,000, as evidenced by photos of receipts shared by Ms Bhardwaj. When the men protest or refuse to pay, they are reportedly threatened by the club’s staff or bouncers, forcing them to settle the bill out of fear and humiliation.
Ms Bhardwaj’s post hints at a broader network of nightclubs across Mumbai engaging in similar practices. These establishments allegedly employ PR personnel who hire women to bait men on dating apps, luring them into expensive and intimidating situations.
Similar incidents have also been reported across major cities like Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, among others. In June, a civil service aspirant’s date went wrong when he was scammed into paying a staggering ₹ 1.2 lakh in bills at a popular joint in the national capital.
