New-Age Scams Put Young Users on Alert

From Dating Apps to Instagram

Scams like Rent a Boyfriend’ becomes latest dating trap 

hema singuluri I hyderabad

A coffee date, a movie outing or simply some company for shopping may sound harmless. But Hyderabad Police have warned that colourful social-media advertisements promising a “rent-a-boyfriend” are being used as a new dating trap targeting young women and girls. 

Hyderabad City Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar, IPS, recently flagged the scam on X, warning that advertisements offering confidential and professional companionship are being used by cybercriminals to cheat victims and potentially blackmail them. Police said the advertisements circulate on Instagram, Facebook and Telegram, often dressed up with discounts and polished promotional posters. 

The price-list trap 

The advertisements can feature attractive male photographs, sometimes AI-generated and sometimes lifted from the internet. Packages reportedly promise coffee meetings, movie dates, shopping trips, weddings or other events, with one circulated poster listing prices from Rs 499 for a one-hour coffee meeting to Rs 4,499 for a 10-hour package. The offers may even carry promotions such as “50% off” to create urgency. 

Once a woman responds through direct messages, scammers engage her in friendly conversation before asking for a registration fee, booking confirmation, advance payment or security deposit. Payments are sought through digital wallets or QR codes. After receiving the money, the account may simply disappear or block the victim. The danger, police say, may not end with the money. Phone numbers, photographs and other personal information shared with strangers can potentially be misused for harassment or blackmail. 

Dating scams taking different forms 

The warning comes against a wider backdrop of online dating fraud. Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police officially list dating frauds and sextortion/honey traps among the cybercrimes they handle.  

Another reported pattern involves dating-app matches steering people towards particular pubs or establishments, where inflated bills allegedly leave the person who came for the date paying a steep amount after the companion disappears. Police confirmation of individual incidents varies, and not every such episode should automatically be treated as part of one organised racket. 

What Hyderabad users are saying 

Online discussions show that the issue is generating a mixture of amusement, curiosity and fear. Some users dismiss the “rent-a-boyfriend” concept as absurd, while others ask whether legitimate paid companionship could work if it were safe, respectful and expectations were clearly defined. Others argue that no organizer could guarantee the safety of strangers meeting through such a platform. 

Reddit users have also alleged dating-app scams around areas including Peddamma Gudi, Lulu Mall, Jubilee Hills and KPHB, urging victims not to remain silent because of embarrassment. These remain user allegations, not police-confirmed figures.  

The growing concern is no longer simply about losing money. Hyderabad users are increasingly talking about fake identities, stalking, privacy, AI-generated images, stolen photographs, and sextortion. In one earlier discussion, a user described a suspected romance scam involving a fake international-travel story and worried that photographs already shared on WhatsApp could be misused.