Riddhi (name changed to protect her identity), a 28-year-old professional working in a private company located in the Vastrapur area of the city as an administration officer, had her name registered on a matrimonial site, shaadi.com. On May 29, she got a call from one Vihan Mehta, who identified himself as a dentist practising in Amsterdam in Netherland. Soon they started chatting and calling each other on WhatsApp. Riddhi was unaware that Mehta was a cheat. Mehta, on the pretext of opening a clinic in India, asked her to receive a parcel on his behalf, which contained documents of his medical degrees.
Soon, a series of emails followed for Riddhi, asking her to pay for claiming the parcel. Riddhi fell into the trap laid by Mehta and kept on transferring money in the account mentioned in the mail after Mehta promised her to repay the amount when he comes to India to attend a medical conference in Delhi.
By the time Riddhi realized that she was being cheated, she had already transferred Rs 1,38,200 in instalments in the account of one Jayant Singh in Union Bank of India. If it was not enough, when Riddhi called up Mehta to repay the amount which she had paid, Mehta sent her a screenshot which mentioned that 4000 pounds were transferred to her account. Riddhi never received this amount and had to approach Vastrapur police to lodge an FIR on July 24.
This sordid saga of Riddhi started on May 29 when she was present in her office. She got a WhatsApp call from +3197005031987. The person speaking fluent English identified himself as Doctor Vihan Mehta from Amsterdam in Netherland and told her that he got her number from the matrimonial site.
Mehta told Riddhi that he runs a clinic named Harpenden Private clinic and also sent her the license of him practising as a dentist.
On May 31, Mehta called up Riddhi and told her that he wants to start a clinic in India as he got a license to do it. Mehta also told Riddhi that he has to send some documents to the Medical Association of India regarding the same. However, as he doesn’t have any relatives he will send the documents to her address.
On June 1st she received a mail on her ID asking her to transfer Rs 32,700 as some foreign currency notes were in the parcel sent to her. Riddhi transferred the amount.
This was just the beginning. She received several such emails asking her to transfer money for different reasons. By then she had already transferred Rs 1,38,200. However, when she received one more mail asking her to pay Rs 2.15 lakh for GST registration, she got suspicious and called up Mehta. Mehta asked her to pay the amount, promising her once again to repay it when he comes to India.
This time around, Riddhi did not transfer the amount and asked Mehta to repay what she had paid until then. Mehta then sent her a screenshot with a mention that he had transferred 4000 pounds to her account. Riddhi never received it and now has complained to Mehta. Vastrapur police officials said they will write to the service provider for the IP Log address and trace Mehta.
