Kamal Ghorui
LUCKNOW: A govt school teacher from Lucknow fell prey to a ‘pig butchering romance’ scam, an insidious blend of romance, deception, and financial fraud—losing a staggering Rs 49 lakh to a woman he met on a matrimonial platform. Police officials said it was the first such scam in the city. According to the FIR filed with the cyber police, a resident of Jankipuram and an employee of the basic education department came in contact with a woman identifying herself as Isha Desai on June 20, 2025, via the app m4marry. Claiming to be a Mumbai-based textile business owner, she cultivated a relationship with the victim, gradually building emotional trust. Police, on the basis of the FIR, said this emotional manipulation was the first step in what experts describe as a ‘long con’. Thereafter, the accused introduced the teacher to a trading platform—gomarketsuma.com.Initial investments yielded fake profits. Drawn deeper into the scheme, the teacher transferred Rs49 lakh to various bank accounts provided by the accused in six months. A dummy credit of Rs 10 lakh was also reflected in his trading account. The scam took a dramatic turn when the victim attempted to withdraw Rs2.5 lakh. The platform showed a sudden spike in profits—Rs 1 crore — and demanded Rs Rs33 lakh as “tax” to release the funds. “When the teacher refused to give more money and demanded his Rs 49 lakh back, he was allegedly threatened with legal action, including proceedings by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a tactic aimed at inducing fear and compliance,” police said.Realizing the fraud, the teacher approached cyber crime police, who confirmed that the entire operation was part of a coordinated cyber fraud network. Investigators have been provided with key digital evidence, including transaction records, chat logs, the mobile number of the accused, and screenshots of the fake trading platform. Officials said a detailed probe has been initiated. “No genuine platform demands upfront tax for withdrawals,” an officer noted. What is ‘pig-butchering’A cybercrime expert and former IPS officer, Triveni said that this is a textbook ‘pig-butchering’ romance scam, where fraudsters ‘fatten’ the victim emotionally and financially over time like a ‘pig’, and then take away all his wealth, ‘slaughtering’ him financially. “They build trust, show fake gains, and then extract large sums before disappearing. These scams are psychologically engineered and often run by organised international syndicates,” he said.
