CHENNAI: Police arrested two persons who cheated a 59-year-old woman from Triplicane of over one lakh rupees in a ‘Digital arrest’ scam.
Digital arrest involves cyber fraudsters calling up the gullible public, claiming to be officials from law enforcement, and creating a make-believe situation as if the public or their family member were involved in a crime and extort money from them.
The complainant in this case, Rizwana Begum (59), had received a phone call from the scamsters in February 2024. The callers claimed to be Customs officials, said she had received a drug consignment, and they have handed over investigations to the local police.
Believing them, Rizwana ended up transferring Rs 1.16 lakh in several installments to the scamsters. Eventually, she realised that she had been scammed and filed a complaint with the Triplicane Police.
Police went on a digital trail and zeroed in on the accused, T Venkatesh (42) of Kumbakonam and Mohammad Yunus (37) of Medavakkam. Probe revealed that Venkatesh used to run a manpower agency in Chennai, and when the business failed, his business partner went to Cambodia and started working in scam compounds there. Venkatesh diverted the money earned through cyber fraud and used Yunus's help.
The two of them were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.