CHENNAI: A 70-year-old retired woman from Palavakkam lost Rs 2.5 crore in an online trading scam operated through a fake investment platform ‘HEM-Securities’. Lured by advertisements promising high returns, she began investing between November 2024 and January 2025, but when she attempted to withdraw her money, the operators blocked her request and demanded additional deposits. Two men, who provided mule accounts, have been arrested and sent to judicial custody.
Following her complaint in August this year, the cyber crime wing of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) traced the money trail to mule accounts, including one belonging to a Tiruppur-based hotel.
The police found that the account had been allegedly provided to fraudsters for commission-based transactions. The police arrested Jeyaraj (32), hailing from Tiruppur, and Ramkumar (32), hailing from Thoothukudi, in Tiruppur on Tuesday.
The police seized three mobile phones, bank passbooks, cheque books, ATM cards, and identity documents during the operation. Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused had opened multiple accounts for cybercrime groups across states, many of which are linked to cases registered on the NCRP portal, the police said.
The two were remanded in judicial custody. The police are searching for the prime suspects behind the racket and have urged the public not to fall prey to fraudulent trading apps and websites.