Scammed by the promise of sex with ‘childless wives’: Hundreds of gullible men hand over deposits to conmen after being lured in by ‘honey trap’ ads offering ‘huge’ sums to impregnate ‘beautiful married women’ who want a child

Hundreds of gullible men have fallen victim to an elaborate ‘impregnation’ scam after they were offered ‘huge paydays’ to spend a night in a hotel with a childless woman – on the condition they hand over a large deposit.

The ‘All India Pregnant Job’ internet scam has lured men across the country with photos and videos of ‘beautiful, married’ women on the false pretext that they will help them conceive.

Men are being encouraged to pay to be registered for the role and guarantee they can sleep with the woman they choose – before scammers cut off contact with them and make off with their money.

Eight people have been arrested in the racket, with the suspected ringleader among more than a dozen other fraudsters reportedly in hiding.

Facebook has been flooded with videos of young women apparently advertising the service, with WhatsApp contact details included in messages encouraging men to get in touch to apply for the fake job.

Women pretend to need help conceiving and offer ‘gullible’ men money to spend a night with them

“Meet a beautiful, married woman of your choice, have a physical relationship with her to make babies,” one ad would promise.

“Get paid 13 lakh (about £13,000) if the woman gets pregnant. If it doesn’t work out, you will still get 5 lakh for your efforts. Discretion assured.’

In another video, men are promised payment if they can give women ‘the pleasure of becoming a mother’.

Some videos show men and women discussing the service and showing wads of banknotes, while at least one video shows a woman handing a man a wad of cash.

Those who fall prey to the scammers never meet the women in the ads and do not receive any of the promised payments, but are instead robbed of their own money.

Officials told India today that scammers manipulated victims into parting with their money by creating a sense of urgency, telling them that others had chosen the same woman to sleep with as them and that it was “first come, first served.” .

Police say the scheme has been carried out by a gang in Bihar, northeast India, for a year, and evidence that it is still active is visible on social media.

One victim said he was given an official-looking document by the fraudsters, containing his photo and a photo of a police officer.

Kalyan Anand, the deputy superintendent of police who heads the cyber cell in the state’s Nawada district, said hundreds of men have been defrauded but no victims have come forward.

“The gang has been active for a year and we believe they have defrauded hundreds of people, but so far no one has come forward, possibly out of shame,” he explained.

People from all over India have fallen victim to the scam, including men from Dehli, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere.

In addition to ads on Facebook, police said scammers managed to obtain men’s personal details and contact them directly about their involvement in the fake service.

The Bihar Police held a press conference last week and showed off some of the phones they had seized

One victim told it BBC that soon after clicking a video, he received a call from the scammers, who asked him to pay out 799 rupees (about £7.50) to sign up for the role.

He was promised 3 million rupees – almost £30,000 – equivalent to three years of his wages to sleep with a woman, plus another 800,000 rupees if she successfully became pregnant.

The fraudsters gave him an official-looking document, with his photo and a photo of a police officer on it.

It was titled ‘Baby Birth Agreement’, dated and signed with a signature that resembled that of American talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

Eight people have been arrested in the racket, with the suspected ringleader among more than a dozen other fraudsters reportedly in hiding

The worker said he was poor and “desperately” needed the money, so he fell for the trick.

Over the following weeks, he reportedly spent more and more cash, which he was told was needed to cover filing fees and taxes on his promised income.

Scammers kept him hooked by sending photos of different women and asking who he would like to spend the night with.

He lost an entire month’s salary before telling them he could no longer afford it and asking for a refund.

Bihar authorities last week held a press conference in which they paraded the eight suspects arrested so far

Experts have said that a lack of social media awareness among many in India has meant that the scam has proven to be very successful for the fraudsters behind it.

Many of the victims are said to have a low level of education, while those perpetrating the scam are highly educated and tech-savvy.

Bihar authorities held a press conference last week in which they paraded the eight suspects arrested so far and showed off some phones they had seized.

A massive operation to track down members of the fraud ring continues.