Two arrested in Tamil Nadu for letting scam gangs use their bank accounts

Two men from Thoothukudi have been arrested for allowing cybercrime gangs to use their bank accounts to receive and withdraw money stolen through “digital arrest” and fake investment scams.

In the first case, a 73-year-old man from Mylapore, S. Srivatsan, lost ₹4.15 crore after fraudsters contacted him on WhatsApp last September. They pretended to be officials from the Mumbai Crime Department and claimed that a SIM card issued in his name was used for illegal activities. They also showed fake documents in the name of the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, Interpol, and the Supreme Court. By threatening him and calling it an “RBI verification”, they forced him to transfer money to several bank accounts.

Police found that the WhatsApp number used for the scam was registered to Manish Kumar, 23, from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. He was arrested last month. During investigation, officers discovered that ₹10 lakh of the cheated money had been sent to a Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank account belonging to Selvakumar, 35, from Kayalpattinam. Almost all the money was quickly withdrawn in cash. Police arrested Selvakumar and seized his mobile phone, cheque books, and passbook.

In a separate case, Krishnakumar, 32, from Chennai, lost ₹1,02,10,000 after he joined a WhatsApp group for an online investment scheme. The scammers made him download a fake investment app that showed false profits. When he tried to withdraw his money, they demanded more payments.

Police later found that ₹9,59,000 from this scam was withdrawn from a Punjab National Bank account belonging to Nishanth, 37, from Chidambar Nagar in Thoothukudi. He had used several bank accounts, including those of his friends, to take out commission from the fraud money. A Cyber Crime team arrested Nishanth and seized three mobile phones, four cheque books, four debit cards, two QR code scanners, and four bank passbooks.

Police have warned the public not to share their bank accounts with others and to be careful of online messages claiming to be from government officials or investment groups.