Rs 1 lakh-a-day offer traps aspiring models

NEW DELHI: Around a dozen aspiring models were duped by fraudsters by offering them professional photo shoots apart from modelling contracts with a Dutch firm. The crooks conned the victims by fraudulently withdrawing money from their bank accounts.
Confirming the incident, additional DCP (southwest) Monika Bhardwaj said that a case under IPC Section 420 (cheating) has been registered.

A 20-year-old Delhi University student, who is part of his college fashion society, received a message two weeks ago through a social media page about a firm looking for models for a photo shoot.




The suspect introduced himself as a senior agent of the Dutch fashion company and said they were looking for male as well as female models. He promised a payment of Rs three lakh for a three-day shoot. The complainant was asked by the agent to meet him at a hotel in Mahipalpur in south Delhi on June 28.

“There were 6-7 female models present in the room. The agent was staying in a different room in the same hotel. He offered us Rs one lakh per day for the three-day shoot and told us that the payment would be done in Euros,” the complainant said, adding that he was asked to stay in the hotel as the shoot would begin early in the morning.

After the negotiations were done, the agent asked for their bank details to transfer the money. “He took the last six digits of their ATM cards, bank account details and asked them to hand over their mobile phones to access passwords for the transaction,” an investigating officer said.

Later at night, the youth heard some noise in an adjacent room and found the other models awake. One of the girls had gone to the agent’s room to get her mobile phone, but found it locked. When they inquired at the reception desk, they were told that the man had left the hotel and was not taking calls.

Police estimate that the conmen may have decamped with around Rs 5 lakh from the models. CCTV footage from the hotel is being scanned to ascertain the identity of the accused. Cops are also tracking the phone numbers and social media profiles used by the suspect.