A man in Delhi fell victim to a clever scam that started on the dating app Tinder. He matched with a woman named Versha and agreed to meet her at the Black Mirror Cafe for her birthday.
The date seemed normal at first. They ordered some snacks, cakes, and drinks. But suddenly, Versha said she had a family emergency and left. When the man asked for the bill, he was shocked to see it was over 1.2 lakh rupees (about $1,500). The cafe staff threatened him when he questioned the high amount, forcing him to pay.
The man reported this to the police, who quickly started investigating. They found out that the Black Mirror Cafe was part of a big scam. The cafe owners, Akshay Pahwa, Vansh Pahwa, and Ansh Grover, were working with others to trick people.
The police learned that a man named Aryan, pretending to be Versha, had actually contacted the victim on Tinder. Aryan works as a “table manager” for the cafe. The real woman involved, Afsan Parveen, uses different names like Ayesha and Noor for these scams.
The scammers have a system: Aryan finds victims on dating apps, Parveen meets them at the cafe, and then leaves early. The victim is then forced to pay a huge bill. Everyone involved gets a share of the money.
The police say similar scams are happening in other big cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. These scammers target specific men on dating apps and use threats to make them pay.
This case shows how important it is to be careful when meeting people from dating apps, especially in unfamiliar places.
