A man in Delhi fell victim to a costly scam while seeking a date, losing over Rs 1.2 lakh. The civil service aspirant matched with a woman named Varsha on Tinder and planned to celebrate her birthday at the Black Mirror Cafe on Vikas Marg on June 23. Upon arrival, Varsha consumed four shots of fruit wine, and they ordered cakes and starters. However, she abruptly left, citing a family emergency, which led to a shocking bill of Rs 1,21,917.70 for what should have been a much cheaper meal. Intimidated and forced to pay, the man transferred the amount online to Akshay Pahwa, one of the cafe’s owners.
After the incident, the man filed a complaint with the police, leading to Akshay’s arrest. During interrogation, Akshay revealed that he co-owned the Black Mirror Cafe with his cousin Vansh Pahwa and friend Ansh Grover. He also disclosed that Varsha’s real identity was Afsan Parveen, who operated under multiple aliases. Using technical surveillance, the police apprehended Afsan at another cafe where she was on a date with a man from Mumbai, whom she had met through Shadi.com.
The police discovered that the Black Mirror Cafe ran a scam where inflated bills were split among the girl, table and café managers, and the owners. Such schemes are prevalent in major metro cities like Delhi, NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, involving collusion between café owners, managers, and individuals who lure targets through dating apps to extort money.
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