22-year-old loses over ₹2 lakh to fraudster posing as escort service provider

A 22-year-old resident of Mangaluru has reportedly lost ₹2.37 lakh to a fraudster who posed as an agency providing female escorts.

According to a complaint filed with the Cyber Economic and Narcotic Crime police station in the city, the victim came across an Instagram advertisement for “Royal Escort Girls” in Mangaluru. After accessing the website through the URL provided, he was connected to a customer service representative via chat.

The victim subsequently received a call on WhatsApp and was instructed to pay an online booking charge. He then transferred ₹3,000 by scanning a QR code sent to him. This was followed by additional payments demanded for a security deposit, service confirmation, police verification, waiting charges, and other fees.