Cyber fraud: Three from Coimbatore held for duping Chennai man of ₹1.15 crore

The police said the Chennai resident received a call on WhatsApp on August 24 from an unknown person claiming he had a summons from the Mumbai High court

The Cyber Crime Wing of Tamil Nadu police on Thursday (September 26, 2024) arrested three men from Coimbatore, suspected to be the key accused in a cyber fraud case, wherein ₹1.15 crore was allegedly swindled from a person in Chennai.

The police said the Chennai resident received a call on WhatsApp on August 24 from an unknown person claiming he had a summons from the Mumbai High court. The caller instructed the victim to press ‘0’ for further details. Upon doing so, another impersonator picked up the call, alleging that the complainant was involved in illegal money laundering activities through an ICICI bank account in his name in Mumbai East, Andheri branch, and that he needed to speak with the Mumbai Cyber Crime department.

An impersonator pretending to be from the Mumbai Cyber Crime department contacted the victim via a video call over WhatsApp and threatened him with dire consequences, claiming that he was “digitally arrested”. To avoid further consequences, the complainant was convinced to pay a sum of money to prove his innocence.

The complainant, fearing for his safety, transferred a total of ₹1.15 crore through RTGS in five transactions from his two bank accounts.

Following his complaint to the Cyber Crime Wing of Tamil Nadu police, a case was registered. Additional Director General of Police, Cyber Crime Wing, Sandeep Mittal, said, “Our investigation revealed that the complainant’s lost amount was transacted to the beneficiary bank account (SBI Account) of Vin Power Energy Solutions Private Limited. A special team was formed to secure the accused involved in the crime and to retrieve the amount lost. The special team has taken swift action by arresting the accused.”

The arrested men have been identified as S. Viswanathan, 54, G. Jayaraman, 57, and J. Sunil Kumar, 26. As much as ₹52 lakh has been retrieved from them. All the three accused were sent to judicial custody, and further investigation is on to arrest other persons involved in the crime.

Published - September 27, 2024 06:01 pm IST