Digital arrest: Thoothukudi man held for swindling Rs 17 lakh

CHENNAI: The city police's west zone cyber crime wing officials arrested a 43-year-old man from Thoothukudi for his links with a cyber criminal gang, who defrauded a city resident of Rs 16.5 lakh through the "Digital Arrest" scam.

Digital arrest involves scammers calling potential targets impersonating as law enforcement officers, typically from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Mumbai Police among others and fabricate a scenario to instill fear and create panic in the minds of the person at the other end of the line.

In this case, the caller posed as a cybercrime officer of the New Delhi Police and dialled a Kolathur resident on April 16 and claimed that he was involved in drug trafficking and the circulation of obscene videos. The caller had then instructed the complainant, Rajkumar, to appear before the headquarters in New Delhi. After negotiations through the video call, the scammer forced him to transfer Rs 16.5 lakh to a bank account.

After the incident, Rajkumar discussed with his family and realised that he had been conned. After which, he filed a complaint with the city police.

Tracing the digital trail, the police landed at the residence of J Ananthakumar (43), a resident of Chidambaram Nagar in Thoothukudi, who, police said, is part of a large network of cyber scammers.

Investigations confirmed that Ananthakumar opened 25 fake bank accounts and helped transfer nearly Rs 60 lakh defrauded from multiple victims of cyber fraud. He received a 3 per cent commission for each transaction. He was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.