CHENNAI: Four men who were involved in an online investment scam were arrested by the State Cyber Crime Investigation Centre (SCCIC) on December 6 and 7. The arrested include two mule account holders, a face-to-face agent, and an agent directly working in a scam compound in Cambodia. The victim had lost Rs 1.65 crore in the scam.
According to the police, the victim, a 67-year-old retired government employee residing in Chennai, came across YouTube shorts providing investment advice in the names of Motilal Oswal and SBI Securities. The victim contacted the fraudsters through Whatsapp using the contact details provided in the video. The accused, posing as consultants from Motilal Oswal Group and SBI Securities, manipulated the victim into opening fake institutional trading accounts on fake websites.
The fraudsters coerced the victim into transferring large sums of money into their bank accounts under the pretext of investing in lucrative trading opportunities. Believing it to be true, the victim sent Rs 1.65 crores.
However, when the victim tried to withdraw the money, the fraudsters stopped responding. Realising it to be a scam, the victim lodged an online complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. A case was registered and the money trail was analysed.
Inquiries revealed fraudulent transactions done in the first-layer bank accounts belonging to a fake company - CMST Consultancy in Chennai. On December 6, N Mohammad Ismail, a driver in Chennai, and B Abudahir, a garments exporter in Tirupur, were arrested as first-layer mule account holders. Their confessions led to the arrest of D Kesavaraj, also a garments exporter in Tirupur, who helped them create the fake company and bank accounts.
Based on the information provided by Kesavaraj, another man Kaleel Ahmed, formerly a garments exporter in Tirupur and now working in a scam compound in Cambodia, the main agent, was arrested in Chennai on December 7. Ahmed would collect current accounts and deliver them to the scam company in Cambodia to facilitate fraudulent transactions.
The seized items include current bank account kits, debit cards, cheque books, phones, and laptops. All four were remanded in judicial custody.