Men in Mumbai are being targeted in a dating scam and made to pay thousands for dates. The Godfather Club is put under the spotlight and is undergoing investigation.
The scam was exposed on social media when activist Deepika Narayan (@DeepikaBhardwaj) posted a thread on X (Formerly known as Twitter) explaining how Mumbai’s men are being scammed by women through dating apps and how a club is involved in the scam.
How are Men Being Scammed?
Deepika Narayan’s post details how the scam starts as an innocent match on one of the popular dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, and OKCupid with men who are quick to show an interest in meeting up.
The venue for the date is decided as The Godfather Club or in some cases, the men are asked to at a different place and then are taken to the club under the pretence that it is an “amazing” place. Upon reaching the club, the men who reached out to the activist allege that their date ordered expensive items, some of which are not listed on the menu, such as costly alcohol and hookah. However, after placing the order, their date abruptly excuses themselves by stating an emergency and leaving the men behind. In the end, they are expected to pay bills that come up to Rs. 61,000 and are threatened by the bouncers and staff of the club to pay the bill if the men protest to do so.
Deepika Narayan takes to X to caption a post with “I’ve exposed many clubs but this one (The Godfather Club) seems to be the baap (father) of all.”
“I knew this was a scam”
The activist in her thread shares screenshots of the four men explaining their situation and it is obvious from the messages that is a well-planned scam with the club and the women in tow. The amount of the bills mentioned in the messages ranges from Rs 23,000 to Rs 61,000.
One of the victims stated that his “date” did not leave halfway through and instead went to the washroom and came back when the bill was requested. The waiter approached the table and asked the victim how much his budget was and when the victim replied “Nothing fixed”, the waiter revealed that the bill came up to Rs 45,000. When she came back, the victim asked her if she knew the club because of the expensive bill, which shocked the victim as their order consisted of whiskey, hookah, a corn starter, chicken chilly, and two pints of beer. The woman took the bill and after discussing it with the victim, stated that the bill should have come up to a maximum of Rs 10,000, which was probably what the victim was also expecting. She said that she would consult it with someone who “knows this place” but unfortunately after that, the bill went up to Rs 55,000 and the victim stated that he “had no other option but to pay” and saw all the reviews on his way home.
MODUS OPERANDI :
— Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj (@DeepikaBhardwaj) August 23, 2024
◾Dating app connect
◾Push for quick meet
◾Meeting place Pizza Express or Metro
◾Then insists Godfather
◾Orders drink, hookah, fireshot
◾Guy isn't shown menu card
◾Bill in thousands within hour
◾She absconds
◾Bouncers corner guy to beat if not paid pic.twitter.com/FhKP26yVUc
Deepika Narayan also attached screenshots of similar reviews on the popular food delivery and dining out app Zomato and tagged their official account questioning why the club is still listed on Zomato despite the negative reviews. She also shared censored pictures of the scammers, to show proof that they are not men scamming other men in the disguise of a woman but women who are scamming unsuspecting men in the city.
Legal Action
The activist takes it to her post to ask Mumbai Police if cyber complaints are taken so that they “hibernate in the systems?”. She follows it up by stating that it is an obvious organized crime and questions if they have any “special interest in protecting these scammers”. She has attached screenshots of the complaints registered by the victims detailing the scam.
Other Incidents
In a post under the thread, Narayan also exposes that other clubs in Mumbai, namely, Bella Ciao in Andheri and Epic Bar & Club in Thane, are conducting similar scams.
