THANE: A man hailing from Chennai has been apprehended by Maharashtra police for allegedly defrauding a resident of Navi Mumbai of more than Rs 21 lakh.
The suspect, identified as Lokesh Kumar, was arrested by officers from the Cyber police station in Navi Mumbai on October 9.
The fraudulent activity occurred between August 6 and 11 of this year when the accused contacted the victim via phone. He falsely claimed that the Income Tax Department was monitoring the victim’s bank account, which he had opened in Nagpur, citing unusually high transaction activities. Furthermore, the accused alleged that illegal parcels were being dispatched to Canada in the victim’s name.
Under the threat of imminent action by the Income Tax Department, including the possibility of arrest, the accused demanded money from the victim. Fearing the consequences, the victim transferred a sum of Rs 21.22 lakh to various bank accounts specified by the scammer.
Upon realizing that he had fallen victim to a fraud, the deceived individual reported the incident to the police. Subsequently, a case was registered against the fraudster under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention), along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, back in August. To safeguard the victim’s financial interests, the police promptly froze all bank accounts involved in the transactions, which collectively held Rs 18,80,317 at the time.
Employing technical leads, the police successfully traced the perpetrator to Chennai and apprehended him on October 9. Authorities suspect that additional individuals may have been complicit in the fraudulent scheme.
(With agency updates)
The suspect, identified as Lokesh Kumar, was arrested by officers from the Cyber police station in Navi Mumbai on October 9.
The fraudulent activity occurred between August 6 and 11 of this year when the accused contacted the victim via phone. He falsely claimed that the Income Tax Department was monitoring the victim’s bank account, which he had opened in Nagpur, citing unusually high transaction activities. Furthermore, the accused alleged that illegal parcels were being dispatched to Canada in the victim’s name.
Under the threat of imminent action by the Income Tax Department, including the possibility of arrest, the accused demanded money from the victim. Fearing the consequences, the victim transferred a sum of Rs 21.22 lakh to various bank accounts specified by the scammer.
Upon realizing that he had fallen victim to a fraud, the deceived individual reported the incident to the police. Subsequently, a case was registered against the fraudster under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention), along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, back in August. To safeguard the victim’s financial interests, the police promptly froze all bank accounts involved in the transactions, which collectively held Rs 18,80,317 at the time.
Employing technical leads, the police successfully traced the perpetrator to Chennai and apprehended him on October 9. Authorities suspect that additional individuals may have been complicit in the fraudulent scheme.
(With agency updates)
