I am sharing my story because I believe it might help someone else avoid the trap I fell into six months ago. I met a man on matrimonial website called yogicshadi.com. He claimed to be 36 years old, originally from Vrindavan and claimed that he was working as an Associate Vice President (AVP) at a company called Qube Research and Technologies (QRT) in Mumbai. He spoke with a US accent and told me he had recently returned from the US 9 months ago.
**The Red Flags I Ignored:**
- No Social Media: He claimed he was an "introvert" who didn't like social media. I ignored this because I know many people in senior positions who also avoid social media, so it didn't seem suspicious at the time.
- The "Office" Illusion & Detail: He was extremely convincing. He would frequently video call me from his "office." He spoke about his work in such intense, intricate detail that it was impossible for an ordinary person to fabricate. Because he could name-drop real people like the actual director of the Mumbai QRT office I felt I had verified him.
- The "Intelligence Bureau" (IB) Trap: About two weeks into our conversation, he claimed to have previously worked for the \*\*Intelligence Bureau (IB)\*\*.He would insist we move to WhatsApp calls to discuss "sensitive" information about his past experiences. He used to be engaged in intense, geopolitical discussions—even bringing up specific events like the arrest of Sonam Wangchuk. Not even geopolitics, he would engage in possibly all kinds of well rounded conversations around his spiritual practises, trends in IT, climate change, state of education etc.
Fear-Based Manipulation: To make his "IB" persona feel real, he once warned me not to go out in Delhi-NCR during the middle of September, claiming there were "leads" about something big being planned.
After three months of constant communication—including video calls with my mother—he suddenly claimed his family members were facing major health issues. He asked to borrow ₹50,000. Because I trusted him, I didn't see it as a red flag at the time. After 10 days of getting the money, he suddenly ghosted me and stopped responding to my messages.
**How I Caught Him:**
I eventually discovered he was not working in QRT by finding the details of the director on Internet and called him to verify his he claims; director informed me he was actually employed by a different, third-party company working as a vendor. The Director got really furious after knowing the reality and assured me he would take appropriate steps.
Next day I received a call from him after being ghosted for 15 days - did I call his director saying he is a fraud? I confronted him and told him I had called his director and knew he was a fraud, he panicked and informed me he has been fired from his job. He promised to return the money, sent it back within a few hours, and then blocked me from everywhere.
I later found his real profile on LinkedIn by searching his previous companies, but he blocked me there as well. I am certain he is a highly trained, manipulative scammer who might have scammed other innocent people too before me and my instincts tell me he is married with children.
**Key Information:**
* **Contact:** He used a new series **Jio number** starting with **6393 XXXX** which was different from his personal number.
* **Communication:** He used a professional **Outlook email** for our daily conversations, which was completely different from the **Gmail** address linked to his real accounts.
**other than this, he was trained to build emotional connection - had a very high EQ which was visible during some fights. He used to stay super calm and always proactive in thinking of solutions rather than blame. This might have come to him with a lot of training and experience, but this is worthy to be careful of.
**My Advice to Others:**
I didn't file a formal cybercrime complaint at the time because I was dealing with a family medical emergency, but I have reported him to the matrimonial platform.
Please be very careful. If someone’s story seems "too good to be true," trust your gut.
I hope this post saves someone else from the emotional and financial trauma I went through.