Sri Lankan national arrested in India over LKR 23mn fraud

The Cyber Crime wing of India’s Cuddalore police have arrested a Sri Lankan national for allegedly swindling INR 60 lakh (approximately LKR 23.5 million) from an IT professional in Cuddalore by offering online part-time jobs.

According to the Cyber Crime police, the complainant S. Sampath, 32 of Kurunjipadi, received a message offering an online part-time job through the Telegram app. He was lured by an unidentified person offering money for completing certain tasks online. Sampath was promised good returns for a small investment for reviewing the app.

Sampath was then moved to a bigger Telegram group where he continued to perform tasks and made payments to the tune of ₹60 lakh to a bank account. He eventually lost the money to the fraudsters, following which he lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime police.

On the directions of Superintendent of Police R. Rajaram, a thorough investigation was conducted by the Cyber Crime wing. The team traced the last transaction of ₹6 lakh made to an account holder and obtained the KYC of the suspected bank account. The details of the account-holder and linked mobile number were collected from the bank. It was found that the account belonged to Salman Mohammed Farook, 26, a Sri Lankan national, residing at Ambattur in Chennai.

Police said the kingpin of the online scam was from China. The police arrested Salman in Chennai on Tuesday and brought him to Cuddalore. He was produced before a local court here and remanded to custody in the Cuddalore Central Prison.

Source - The Hindu
--Agencies