MALAPPURAM: The Malappuram Cyber Crime Police have apprehended a native of Karnataka allegedly involved in extorting Rs 1.08 crore from a resident of Vengara through online trading scams.
The suspect, identified as Abdul Roshan from Hobli in Karnataka, was taken into custody in Madikeri. Police stated that Roshan served as an agent who distributes SIM cards to fraudulent syndicates. The operation, led by a team headed by Malappuram Police Chief S Sasidharan and Cyber Inspector I C Chitharanjan, culminated in the arrest.
The victim from Vengara began suffering financial losses after clicking a share market website link advertised on Facebook.
Subsequently, the fraudsters, posing as customer care representatives from the share market site, lured him into making substantial deposits into various accounts. However, neither did he receive any returns nor get the deposited funds.
Upon apprehension, authorities seized approximately 40,000 SIM cards and 180 mobile phones from Roshan’s possession.
Roshan’s associates, operating mobile phone shops, illicitly utilised customers’ fingerprints to activate counterfeit SIM cards, which were then supplied to Roshan at a rate of Rs 50 per card. These SIM cards were subsequently distributed to fraudsters for malicious activities.