Student signs up to become male escort, loses Rs 1.8 lakh

A 22-year-old student who set out to become a male escort was cheated of Rs 1.18 lakh.

Pradeep Chowdary (name changed), a resident of Hampinagar in Attiguppe, told the police he had been keen to fund his girlfriend's education.

A student of Java programming, he decided to work as an escort after he came across an ad on a free classifieds site.

The ad said, 'Start Working As A Male Escort for High Class Business Women. Earn High.' It promised easy money: Rs 20,000 a day.

Confident about his physique and good looks, he called up the mobile number provided in the ad.

Registration fee

The woman who answered his call identified herself as Alina Velho. She told him she represented a reputed agency and asked him to pay Rs 6,300 to register. Chowdary transferred the amount online to a bank account.

Alina's escort services agency created a profile for Chowdary, and sent him the details by email. She then asked him to be on standby.

A few days later, she called him to say a woman from Dubai, staying at a five-star hotel, wanted to hire him. Alina instructed him to be ready to head for the hotel.

She then asked him to pay a security deposit of Rs. 8,500 to have the client directly call him. He did as told.

Alina then told Chowdary he could collect his fees from the client and pay the company 20% by way of commission.

By then, Chowdary had transferred Rs 1.18 lakh to the bank account. He proceeded to the hotel lobby on Alina's instructions.

Wait in lobby

Chowdary spent hours waiting. Every now and then, Alina called him up to say the client was busy and would get in touch with him shortly. Later that night, the 'client' called him to say she was busy.

During the call, Chowdary heard a baby crying in the background. That was when he realised he was being conned. When he asked the caller about the baby, she hung up.

A furious Chowdary called up Alina and demanded his money back. She told him to pay Rs 8,500 as refund charge.

It was then that Chowdary lodged a complaint with the cyber crime police. They are investigating.