Noida, Apr 1 (PTI) A Nigerian national was arrested here for allegedly duping women by contacting them through matrimonial sites using fake identities, police said on Friday.

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The 37-year-old accused had come to India in 2018 on a medical visa and was staying on rent in Greater Noida, an official said.

The man was arrested by the Noida unit of the UP Cyber Cell, he added.

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“Accused Oshitor Churchill Paul would befriend women through matrimonial websites identifying himself as an NRI (non-resident Indian) and gain their confidence by promising to marry them,” the police said.

“He would then trap women by saying he has sent expensive gifts and cash in foreign currency but they are stuck with the Customs Department at the airport. The gifts, however, would be released after payment of some fees, he would tell women,” the police said in a statement.

In his fraudulent act, Paul was helped by his wife Josalyn, an Indian national from Goa. They had got married in a church in Delhi in 2014, the police said.

The Cyber Cell estimates that the Nigerian national has so far duped his victims of at least Rs 50 crore. The police have also traced a farmhouse that Paul purchased near Pune in the name of his wife, the police said in a statement.

His arrest came after an FIR was lodged on Wednesday on the complaint of a Noida-based woman who alleged cyber fraud of Rs 1.07 lakh with her by a man, who identified himself as Yogesh Jain, an NRI.

The woman had got in touch with him through a matrimony website and after several conversations, he told her that he has come to India on a vacation but the officials at the airport have caught him with 50,000 pounds in cash, the police said.

The Cyber Cell traced the conman to Greater Noida and arrested him on Friday after electronic evidence suggested his role in the fraud, it said.

The police said it also seized 46 SIM cards, two laptops, 17 mobile phones, six wi-fi dongles, a passport and a cash of Rs 39,500 from the spot.

The police also found letterheads in the name of several reputed banks and organisations from the accused's residence and data of 30,000 email ids and passwords besides 50,000 mobile phone numbers, it added.

UP Cyber Cell's Superintendent of Police Triveni Singh has announced a reward of Rs 25,000 to the Noida Cyber Cell team led by Inspector Reeta Yadav for cracking the case, the official said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)