Cops recover Rs 1 L from con couple within hours

The city police recovered Rs 1 lakh from a con ‘couple’ who duped a landlord of Rs 1 lakh, introducing themselves as Army man and wife, in Pallikaranai on Thursday.

Dinesh (name changed) of Pallikaranai had placed an online ad to rent out his house. On Thursday, a woman contacted Dinesh over the phone. Introducing herself as the wife of an Army officer, she expressed interest in occupying the house.

The woman also handed over the phone to her husband, saying the advance rental can be discussed with him. Later, the couple shared fake Aadhaar and other details on WhatsApp. Dinesh had asked the couple to pay Rs 50,000 in advance.

The couple, however, expressed concern about transferring the money to someone they don’t know. They asked Dinesh to send Rs 50,000 to their ‘Army account’ to verify whether he is a reliable person. They promised to return it along with the advance. Believing them, Dinesh transferred Rs 50,000.

A few minutes later, the woman called Dinesh and said there was a problem with the bank and asked him to transfer another Rs 50,000 through Google Pay. Dinesh paid the money for the second time but when the couple asked for the money a third time, Dinesh realised he was being cheated and filed a complaint to the Tambaram Police Commissioner, M Ravi.

Soon, the police, with the help of cybercrime, blocked the bank accounts which were based in Rajasthan and recovered the money. The police are trying to nab the accused with details from the phone calls.