The victim was coerced into transferring Rs 10 lakh after scammers pretended to be cybercrime authorities.
The fraudulent bank accounts linked to the scam were also connected to similar cases across multiple states.
Gopi Kumar, a key suspect, was arrested in South Delhi and brought to Coimbatore for further investigation.
A 25-year-old Coimbatore woman loses Rs 10 lakh after falling for a courier scam. The incident occurred in September of last year when a fraudster claiming to be a Mumbai-based FedEx employee said that Rithika’s identity proof had been used to intercept a suspicious package that contained drugs and illegal items.
SurveyAdditionally, the con artists were able to manipulate the victim into participating in a Skype video call with people by pretending to be cybercrime authorities. Under threat of a digital arrest, these scammers coerced the victim into divulging her bank account information and other personal credentials. The victim then transferred Rs 10 lakh to various accounts out of fear of legal trouble, believing that the money was needed for verification and would be reimbursed later.
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The victim discovered she had been defrauded shortly after the money she transferred was not returned. She then complained to the national cybercrime reporting portal, asking the Coimbatore rural cybercrime police to act quickly. The cases were registered under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita Act and the Information Technology Act.
Then, the authorities discovered that the fraudulent bank accounts connected to the scam had also been used in cases similar to this in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, and Kerala. The results led to the formation of a special investigation team, which visited South Delhi and detained Gopi Kumar, a 42-year-old key suspect. On a transit warrant, he was subsequently taken to Coimbatore for additional investigation.
After the arrest, the authorities seized several digital services including mobile phones, laptops, debit cards, and SIM cards. The suspects who were Gopi Kumar’s associates are still on the run. A team remains stationed in Delhi to apprehend the remaining culprits.
Authorities are continuing their investigation into the case, with hopes of bringing the entire group responsible for this widespread fraud to justice.
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Ashish Singh
Ashish Singh is the Chief Copy Editor at Digit. He's been wrangling tech jargon since 2020 (Times Internet, Jagran English '22). When not policing commas, he's likely fueling his gadget habit with coffee, strategising his next virtual race, or plotting a road trip to test the latest in-car tech. He speaks fluent Geek. View Full Profile
