A 38-year-old Nigerian national, Samuel Ogun, also known as Stepney Derick, has been arrested in Faridabad, Haryana, India, for allegedly defrauding several women through online matrimonial platforms.
The arrest was confirmed on Thursday by the Cybercrime Branch of the Noida Police following multiple complaints from victims.
According to the police, at least two women in Noida reported being duped by the suspect. One of the complaints, filed in January 2020, involved a loss of about ₹1.26 crore, while another lodged in May 2025 indicated that the victim lost approximately ₹56.40 lakh.
The Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cybercrime), Shavya Goyal, disclosed that the suspect allegedly posed as a wealthy foreign businessman to lure unsuspecting women into online relationships.
She explained that Ogun would gain the trust of his victims before fabricating stories about encountering legal or customs-related issues while planning to travel to India, thereby persuading them to send money.
“In both instances, the victims met the suspect on matrimonial platforms and were later convinced to transfer funds after he claimed to be in legal trouble on his way to India,” Goyal said.
Further findings revealed that the suspect employed a consistent pattern, including claims of sending expensive gifts that were supposedly held by customs authorities, or alleging that he had been detained at the airport over foreign currency issues.
He would then request payments in Indian currency from the victims to resolve the fabricated problems.
Investigators also discovered that the suspect was simultaneously engaging between 15 and 16 women using different identities, with several complaints reportedly filed against him on India’s National Cybercrime Reporting Portal across multiple locations.
During a raid on his residence in Faridabad on Wednesday, operatives recovered five mobile phones, a laptop, a tablet, a Wi-Fi router, a dongle, multiple SIM cards, foreign currency, and two fake passports bearing different identities, alongside forged documents.
Police authorities said the suspect has been arraigned in court, while further investigations are ongoing.
All electronic devices seized from him have been sent for forensic analysis as investigators work to identify more victims and track the movement of funds.
Authorities also suspect that the accused frequently travelled across countries to obtain new identities whenever his previous ones were exposed.
