HIGHLIGHTS

Swindlers deceived a victim into transferring Rs 10 lakh by posing as cybercrime officials.

Bank accounts involved in the fraud were linked to similar scams across several states.

Gopi Kumar, a prime suspect, was apprehended in South Delhi and later moved to Coimbatore for further questioning.

A young woman, just 25 years old and hailing from Coimbatore, found herself a victim of an elaborate courier scam that cost her a whopping Rs 10 lakh. This unfortunate incident took place in September of the previous year when a con artist posing as a FedEx employee based in Mumbai made contact with Rithika, claiming that her identity proofs had been linked to a suspicious package containing illegal substances.

As part of their deceit, the fraudsters orchestrated a scenario where Rithika was led into a Skype video call with individuals feigning to be representatives from cybercrime authorities. Employing intimidation tactics and threats of digital arrest, they successfully manipulated her into revealing her banking details and other sensitive personal information. Living under the fear of possible legal ramifications, Rithika ended up transferring a total of Rs 10 lakh into multiple bank accounts, convinced that this money was essential for a verification process that would eventually be refunded.

In a related context, a similarly alarming case involved a retired bank manager who fell prey to an insurance policy fraud, losing Rs 2.22 crore. To learn more about this incident, click on the provided link: Retired bank manager loses Rs 2.22cr in insurance policy scam: Here’s what happened.

Rithika came to realize that she had been scammed almost immediately after the transfer occurred, particularly because the expected reimbursement did not materialize. In an effort to rectify the situation, she promptly reported the crime through the national cybercrime reporting portal, appealing for urgent intervention from the Coimbatore rural cybercrime police. The case has been filed under both the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita Act and the Information Technology Act, reflecting the severity of the crime.

Investigations unveiled that the fraudulent bank accounts implicated in this scam were also connected to multiple similar incidents spanning across states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, and Kerala. The findings from this investigation prompted the establishment of a specialized task force. This team subsequently journeyed to South Delhi and apprehended a critical suspect named Gopi Kumar, aged 42. Following his arrest, he was transported under a transit warrant to Coimbatore for further interrogation.

In the aftermath of Gopi Kumar’s arrest, law enforcement officials confiscated a variety of digital devices, including mobile phones, laptops, debit cards, and SIM cards. However, it’s worth mentioning that several of Kumar’s accomplices remain elusive, prompting a dedicated team to remain stationed in Delhi with the objective of capturing the rest of the fraudulent network.

The investigative authorities are diligently continuing their inquiries into this intricate web of deception, with the aim of ensuring that all individuals involved in perpetrating this broad and alarming scam face justice. The urgency to clamp down on such fraudulent activities remains high as cybercrime continues to evolve and affect unsuspecting victims.