Four people are arrested after Tamil Nadu women were defrauded of Rs 81.7 lakh in a digital arrest scam.

Police say that thus far in 2025, more than 350 complaints of digital arrest frauds have been filed on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP).

Cyber News May 12, 2025 0 24 Add to Reading List

Four people are arrested after Tamil Nadu women were defrauded of Rs 81.7 lakh in a digital arrest scam.

Chennai: Four people, including a woman from Pollachi, have been taken into custody by the Tamil Nadu Police's Cyber Crime division for allegedly creating mule bank accounts to support a cyber fraud network based in North India. After a thorough investigation into a digital arrest hoax, the arrests were made on Sunday. Police say that thus far in 2025, more than 350 complaints of digital arrest frauds have been filed on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP).

The breakthrough in the case was brought about by a complaint from a Vellore district citizen. Fraudsters impersonating Bengaluru police officers tricked the victim into sending Rs 81.7 lakh. Under the pretense of verification, they forced the victim to give up the money by falsely accusing him of being involved in a human trafficking and international employment ring.

The transaction trail is linked by the authorities to a bank account belonging to K. Shobana from Pollachi in the Coimbatore region. When questioned, Ms. Shobana disclosed that she had opened the account at her brother M. Suresh's request, who had assured her of a commission by saying it would be used for an online gaming company. Subsequently, Mr. Suresh guided investigators to his associate, S. Senthil Kumar, a Coimbatore-based cattle feed merchant who oversaw the bogus accounts.

Subsequent investigation revealed that S. Karthik Raja, Ms. Shobana's husband, was involved in the online gambling scheme after being contacted by a man named Piyush, who was introduced by Suresh. Piyush requested that Karthik open an account, activate net banking, and provide the login details in exchange for a two percent profit fee. Prabhu, Karthik's older brother and a truck driver, traveled to Lucknow to deliver the banking kit to Piyush because Karthik was physically unable.

After then, on January 2 and 3, Rs 12 lakh was sent into Ms. Shobana's account. K. Shobana, M. Suresh, S. Senthil Kumar, and S. Karthik Raja have all been taken into prison by the police and placed under judicial detention. Investigations are still being conducted to identify additional fraud participants.