Digital arrest scam: 4 held by TN cybercrime cops
So far in 2025, Police have received over 350 complaints in the National Cybercrime Reporting (NCRP) portal regarding Digital Arrest scams
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CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Police's Cyber Crime wing has arrested four persons, including a woman from Pollachi, who opened mule bank accounts to aid cyber fraudsters operating from North India.
So far in 2025, Police have received over 350 complaints in the National Cybercrime Reporting (NCRP) portal regarding Digital Arrest scams.
In the recent case, cybercrime wing cops were on the trail of the suspects based on a complaint from Vellore district, who was forced to part with Rs 81.7 lakh by conmen who posed as Bengaluru police and claimed that he was involved in a human trafficking and overseas job fraud case.
On analysing the money trail, the police found that the first layer of bank accounts used in the fraudulent transaction belonged to K Shobana from Pollachi, Coimbatore district.
Shobana led cops to her brother, M Suresh, who was the one who instructed Shobana to open a bank account in her name, promising her a commission for using the account for the online gaming business.
Suresh led the Police to his friend, Senthil, a Coimbatore-based cattle feed merchant who handled the accounts.
Further inquiry revealed that Shobana's husband, Karthik, contacted a person introduced by Suresh, who introduced himself as Piyush and claimed to be involved in the online gaming business.
Piyush promised a 2% profit from the income generated and asked Karthik to open a bank account, set up net banking, and hand over the login credentials to him.
Piyush had asked Karthik to meet him in Lucknow, and since Karthik is differently abled, he assigned the task to his elder brother, Prabhu, a truck driver who frequently travels to the northern districts.
Prabhu travelled to Lucknow and handed over the banking kit to Piyush. Subsequently, on January 2 and 3, 2025, Rs 12 lakh was transferred to Shobana's bank account.
In this regard, the accused K Shobana, M Suresh, S Senthil Kumar, and S Karthik Raja have been remanded and sent to judicial custody. Further investigation is ongoing, police said.
