Chennai: In a major breakthrough, the Cryber Crime Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police busted a Matrimonial scam network using crypto trading and arrested four people in this connection in the southern Theni district of the State.
An official release here said a statewide coordinated operation by Cyber Crime Wing unearthed Matrimonial Scam Network in Tamil Nadu” A new investment scam is targeting individuals through fake matrimonial profiles.
Scammers create fake profiles on matrimonial websites, build trust with victims by posing as potential alliance, and then propose high-return investment opportunities, often involving real estate, stocks, forex trading or cryptocurrency trading.
In one of the cases, four accused have been arrested by the Police in Theni district.
The complainant oversees his father’s mill in Theni. In search of an alliance for his marriage, the victim registered his details on Sangam, a matrimonial App.
On a fateful day he received a profile match from one ID named Harini. After reviewing her details, he initiated the conversation through the App. As their interaction continued, he contacted her via WhatsApp.
The suspect built a relationship with the victim by giving false assurances of marriage. To gain his trust and attention, she shared alleged profits she had earned through crypto trading.
At one point, she claimed that her father had suffered losses in the Indian stock market and introduced the concept of Crypto trading.
She then persuaded the victim to invest in Crypto trading. Initially, the victim refused, but the suspect manipulated him and ultimately influenced him to invest Rs.88,58,988 in Cryptotrading.
Based on this, a FIR was registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station Theni District u/s 66C, 66D IT Act and 318(2), 318(4) BNS.
During investigation, it was found that the victim had transferred a total amount on 25 occasions to two City Union Bank accounts.
The investigation by special team led to the arrest of four accused persons. The bank accounts to which the victim has transferred money belonged to persons namely, Lakshmi and Anandhi, both of them are daily wage workers.
On investigation, it is found that the ladies were manipulated by one Nanda Gopal (30) from Erode by offering a commission of Rs. 2,000 for opening those accounts.
Later, it was handed over to accused Yuvarajan (33), also from Erode and accused Padmanaban (32) from Coimbatore who had direct contact with the Cambodian accused via Telegram.
Another accused named Siva, was arrested who was working under the above duo.
The arrest led to the seizure of Rs.3,90,000/-, six mobile phones, 29 Debit cards, 18 Cheque books, 12 Bank Passbooks, 46 SIM cards and three Notebooks containing account details.
Further investigations are under progress.
