CHENNAI: The State Cyber Crime unit has arrested five men who allegedly swindled crores of rupees from victims in the guise of earning through online games. Police requested the victims to report the crime via Cyber Crime helpline 155260.
According to police, the accused identified as Sasikumar, Saikumar, Rajesh Kumar, Mohammed Asif and Raj Kumar operated through more than 350 websites and hundreds of different bank accounts that are known to the police. The team seized two laptops, one desktop, 10 cell phones, 27 ATM cards, four pendrives, 340 SIM cards and `1.20 lakh cash from the gang.
MR Sibi Chakravarthy, Superintendent of Police, Cyber Crime Wing said the gang cheated at least Rs 10 crore in a year.
“The gang advertises that money can be earned quickly by playing online games. The apps are not available on playstore or iOS, but the victims receive a link to a website from where an ‘apk’ file is downloaded. Victims are asked to pay a deposit money which they promise to be delivered later,” he said.
The gang gets money by providing wins initially and later swindles the entire amount once the victim places a bigger investment. They are suspected to be operated by a team in Russia.