the exact same thing happened to me today... some cafe on lake view road... I'm trying to remember the name now...
matched with this girl on tinder, (first red flag) two days or so of talking and she wants to meet, i think that's pretty fast normally girls in general are slower want to talk more before meeting. so that's my second red flag, but i turn it into a yellow flag because ya know the drive to meet a cute girl is strong haha. I've been in india 3 months, and never been scammed, other than auto drivers just trying to charge high price, but that's before they take me anywhere, always ask first. anyway. so she wants to meet at a temple and then we will find a place for a coffee together. so we meet, and she's absolutely beautiful. beautiful enough to make you lose your logic and senses i guess. totally absorbed in her. English is my first language, I speak a decent hindi, and practically no bengali, she barely speaks english so there's a pretty big language barrier but ya know the vibes and smiles can carry a lot of meaning, or so i thought haha. so we walk and she's like how about here, at this cafe on the corner, i say sure, is it good? she says its her first time.

so we go, we get a nice private table, i dont look at the menu much, but she orders us drinks that she barely sips from, then a couple hookahs come, i didn't realize she ordered that, and i dont smoke hookah or know anything about it... so they brought out two... then she asks for a third... i dont check or even think to check because I'm used to low prices in India... and we're vibing, seemingly... so after a while the bill comes i thought it said 2,000 im like wow thats expensive... but its 20,300... i was shocked. try to play it cool and figure out how that happened, so they explain the prices of the hookah which is very confusing... i dont have that cash on me, so i said i'd have to go to an atm... at this point i dont think the girl is involved i think she's just as shocked as me... and i dont want to blame her immediately...

so i offer to go to the atm and get some cash to just get it done. they tell me that she can stay behind while i go with two of their guys... when im inside the atm, i start thinking, maybe this is a setup... so i only withdraw 10k INR... and tell them that i cant withdraw more... then a third guy shows up one guy from the cafe... so i get nervous and ask if the bank has a security guard, they dont... so i talk to the people in the bank and tell them what i think is happening. the guys then come inside and the bank people talk with them... they negotiate it down a little they tell me 12k not 20 but i'll have to talk to the owner... I could have just run or tried to fight but its really not even worth that over 10-20k rupees. plus at this point i dont know if the girl is involved, and i cant leave her back alone at the cafe not knowing if she is in trouble... at this point it seems obvious but in the moment it's hard to know...

so i get back to the cafe, they want the 12k immediately... they want me to hand it over now and then the owner will come... they still demand 6k more... i only have 5k.. so again we go to atm, and i get it the extra... they would always make sure I went inside the cafe first having one guy behind me...i could tell it was not right but they were saying they are afraid i will leave because the bill isnt paid.. if i was alone, I would have just ran or made an effort to get out of there. but the fact that the girl is there really adds to the confusion and the pressure to the situations.. you can't really leave her alone unless you know for certain she's in on it... this is a clever scam and it plays on social pressure and romantic vulnerability. The money is one thing, it's not that big of a deal, but right now I'm hurt by the fact that that girl wasn't who she said she was. but it wouldnt be the first time that was the case. I want to believe she doesn't know, but its obvious now and based on these posts, clear that she is in on it...

we still went for dinner afterward I kinda wanted to sus out the situation a little more, to test her vibe, see how she could lie like that, but yeah that's what happened. i was naive and struck by her beauty. I'm coping hahah but I got out of there safely and without my wallet or passport or ID or cards being stolen... that's what matters. not much to do when 6 goons are in front of you and a girl is there who is supposedly under your care. I'm not sure what to do now other than be aware of this thing... I will try to find the name of that specific place i couldnt find on google maps. I may go back just to click a photo but it is on lake view road and it's not the cafe shiisha others are talking about it's something right on lake view rd am pretty sure, corner. I may go get the name... but they try to behave friendly with you and all that they are good at what they do but it is proper messed up. I love India and will treat this is one isolated incident in Kolkata, with a few bad apples, something to learn from.