NEW DELHI: A Mumbai-based techie turned to “astrology” in a bid to mend his life, unaware the only thing that was to align for him were not stars but a well-planned scam.
The price paid for astrology piled up to an astronomical extent for the BKC man after he downloaded the DevineTalk application to find a fix to his problems.
After installing the app, the man connected with a “spiritual guide” named Nishant in January. Nishant suggested that performing a ritual for Rs 6,300 could cleanse his life of negativity, police told news agency PTI.
The software engineer, after a week of rumination, decided to go ahead with the ponzy prophecy.
He reached out to Nishant, who assured him that a “Bade Maharaj” would personally conduct the sacred ‘kriya‘ to heal his fate.
“Nishant facilitated the conversation between the software engineer and Bade Maharaj through a conference call,” according to the FIR. Later, what followed makes a classic case of spiritual extortion.
Bade Maharaj demanded Rs 15,300 to begin the ritual and later added another Rs 28,000 under different reasons. Trusting their words, the victim made the payments electronically, police confirmed.
When the techie asked for proof that the rituals had been performed, the fraudsters turned up the pressure.
“When the victim demanded proof that rituals were performed by Bade Maharaj, the latter called up in the night and demanded an additional Rs 20,000, saying some rituals are incomplete,” police said.
The software engineer, skeptical but scared, hesitated. That’s when the fear tactics escalated.
Bade Maharaj told him that incomplete rituals could harm his life. With panic creeping in, the victim found himself tangled deeper in the scam.
Nishant reconnected him with Bade Maharaj, and by this time, he had transferred Rs 2.41 lakh. But the fraudsters weren’t done yet.
The psychological pressure intensified—warnings of impending doom if the rituals weren’t completed pushed the victim into financial freefall.
He maxed out his credit cards, borrowed from private lenders, and continued paying, desperate to “fix” his cosmic misfortune. Over six days in January, the techie had drained Rs 12.20 lakh into the scam. The fraudsters still weren’t satisfied.
It wasn’t until he confided in his friends that he realised he had been played.
Urged to investigate, he reached out to the customer support of DevineTalk, where a woman reassured him that the rituals would be completed—and as a gesture of goodwill, she even offered him three free meditation sessions.
Skeptical, the techie checked online reviews of DevineTalk and discovered he wasn’t alone—several users had flagged the app for fraudulent activities.
On Monday, the techie lodged a formal complaint with the cyber police, leading to an FIR under various sections of the BNS and the Information Technology Act (ITA).
