Fake matrimonial profiles: warning signs and how to check

The one rule

Almost every matrimonial scam ends in the same place: a request for money. Remember this one rule, and most of the rest of this page is a bonus.

The common scripts

• The stuck gift. They say they have sent you a gift or cash from abroad. Then someone posing as customs or a courier asks you to pay a fee to release it.
• The sudden emergency. An accident, a hospital bill, a frozen bank account. It always needs money today, and they can never video call.
• The investment tip. After weeks of warm chats, they show you how much they make on a trading or crypto app and help you “start small”. Money goes in, but never comes out.
• The match who can’t meet. A doctor abroad, an engineer on a ship, an officer on a posting: always busy, always out of reach, the camera always broken.
• The video call trap. A video call that turns explicit is recorded without your knowledge, followed by threats to share it unless you pay.
• The fake bureau. A “marriage bureau” that takes a large registration fee, then sends unverified or invented profiles.
• The marriage for money. Someone who marries, then disappears with cash and jewellery. Checking the family and meeting more than once is the best defence.

1Check the profile

• Does a reverse image search of their photos find nothing under another name? Add a note
• Do their profile, biodata and what they tell you all match: job, city, age and marital status? Add a note
• Does the profile have real detail, rather than a few lines and very polished photos? Add a note
• Can you find them on LinkedIn or a company website, with a history that looks real? Add a note
• Is there a common relative, friend or community member who knows them? Add a note

2Check the person

• Have you spoken on a live video call, with their face clearly visible, more than once? Add a note
• Have they shared a phone number in their own name, not only a chat app? Add a note
• Have you spoken to their parents or siblings directly? Add a note
• Do they answer specific questions about their work and city without dodging? Add a note
• Are they comfortable with your family being part of the conversation? Add a note
• Does the pace feel natural, without declarations of love within days? Add a note

3Before anything is decided

• Have you met in person, in a public place or at home, with your family aware? Add a note
• Have both families met, at each other’s homes? Add a note
• Have you seen proof of their job, such as an offer letter or an office ID? Add a note
• If they say they are divorced, have they shown you the divorce decree? Add a note
• If they live abroad, have you seen proof of their visa or residency? Add a note

4Money

• Have they never asked you for money, a loan, gift cards or crypto, for any reason? Add a note
• Have they never asked you to invest through an app or website they recommend? Add a note
• Have they never asked for an OTP, your bank details or your ID documents? Add a note
• Have you refused to pay any customs or courier fee for a gift they sent? Add a note

Why it matters: If any answer here is no, stop talking to them and report it. These are not misunderstandings.

Stop if you see any of these

• A request for money, for any reason, before you have met.
• No video call, ever, with a new excuse each time.
• Love or marriage talk within days of the first message.
• Asking you to keep the conversation from your family.
• A story that changes: job, city, age or family.
• An investment, trading or crypto app they want you to try.
• A “gift” that needs a fee to release.

Keep your own biodata safe

• Share your biodata with families, not with everyone. In open groups, post a short description and ask people to message you.
• Leave your address off the copy you send to people you don’t know yet. Your city is enough.
• Use a parent’s number for first contact, if you prefer.
• Don’t send ID documents like Aadhaar or PAN before the families have met and agreed.
• Make it on your own device. Jodinama never uploads your biodata: it is made and saved in your browser, so there is no copy on a server to leak.

If you have been cheated

• Stop paying and stop replying. Don’t pay more to “recover” what you lost: recovery offers are another scam.
• Call 1930 straight away, the national cyber crime helpline, or report it at cybercrime.gov.in. The sooner you report, the better the chance of stopping the money.
• Call your bank to block the transaction and your cards.
• Save everything: chats, phone numbers, payment receipts and screenshots of the profile.
• Report the profile to the site or app where you met them, and report fraud calls or messages on Sanchar Saathi.
• Talk to your family. Scammers rely on shame to keep people quiet. Trusting someone is not a crime; cheating is.