Hyderabad: A shocking dating scam was uncovered in Hyderabad, where women posing as makeup artists, lured men through dating apps and invited them to clubs to dupe them of thousands of rupees. These women claimed to be new to the city and invited their targets to meet at clubs or bars.

During the meetings, they ordered lavish food and drinks, running up exorbitant bills. When it came time to pay, the men were left with bills ranging from few thousands to as much as ₹50,000.

In June, eight victims approached activist Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj with their harrowing stories. Upon investigation, it was revealed that the scam was being carried out in collaboration with a bar named Mosh Club.

Deepika exposed the scam on Twitter and her post received over 1.4 million impressions, prompting swift action by authorities. Under the direction of the Cyberabad Commissioner of Police, Madhapur police raided Mosh Club in Gachibowli. The club was subsequently shut down, and seven people involved in the scam were arrested.

During the investigation, police discovered that around 50-60 people had been duped, with the scammers looting approximately ₹30 lakhs. Authorities identified the involvement of six women, primarily from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, who would return to their hometowns after executing the scam.

Further investigation revealed that the accused also operated a nightclub named Devil’s Night in Delhi and had been replicating the scam in other cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.

Expose done by Deepika was covered by every media house in Hyderabad & many journalists actively followed up with police to ensure that the scam is completely rooted out from the city. Local news channels even confronted the club owners who had quite an influence in the city. With media pressure and our expose, Swift action was seen by Hyderabad Police in this case.