Tinder date gone wrong! Delhi man duped at a cafe, forced to pay Rs 1.2 lakh bill

Several such schemes are in play in major metro cities, including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad to extort money from unwitting victims, the police said.  On Sunday, the victim reached the Black Mirror Cafe in East Delhi's Vikas Marg area to celebrate the birthday of Versha, a woman he had recently matched with on "Tinder".

A man's search for a date in Delhi landed him in a costly scam as he lost over Rs 1.2 lakh. The man, an aspirant civil service applicant, scheduled a meeting with Varsha after matching with her on the dating app Tinder. On June 23, he made plans to celebrate her birthday at the Black Mirror Cafe on Vikas Marg.

When they got to the cafe, Varsha had four shots of fruit wine and they ordered two cakes and some starters. But her quick departure, citing a family emergency, changed the course of the evening.

The man was shocked to see an outrageous charge of Rs 1,21,917.70 later on for meals that should have only cost a few thousand. The individual was intimidated and forced to pay the amount when he questioned the inflated price.

The man, whose identity was not revealed by the police, ended up transferring the amount online to Akshay Pahwa, one of the cafe owners, a 32-year-old from Shahdara, East Delhi.

The man hurried to a police station and lodged a complaint shortly after leaving the cafe. Akshay was apprehended by the police right away, and when being questioned, he revealed that he, his cousin Vansh Pahwa, and his buddy Ansh Grover are the owners of the Black Mirror Café.

Akshay further revealed the real identity of Varsha as 25-year-old Afsan Parveen, also known as Aaysha or Noor. With the help of technical surveillance, the police arrested Afsan at another cafe, where she was on a 'date' with a boy from Mumbai, whom she had met through Shadi.com.

Police also found that the exorbitant bills charged by people were divided by the Black Mirror Cafe in a fixed ratio: 15 per cent to the girl, 45 per cent between the table and café managers, and the remaining 40 per cent to the owners.

Several such schemes operate in major metro cities like Delhi, NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, aiming to extort money. The modus operandi involves collusion between café owners, managers, and individuals who trap targets through dating apps.