Chennai: An assistant professor of an engineering college in Kodambakkam has been arrested on charges of helping cyber fraudsters in a ‘digital arrest’ scam.
In a digital arrest scam, fraudsters, pretending to be officers from law enforcement agencies, falsely accuse their victims of illegal activities and coerce them into transferring huge amounts of money. In this case, ‘ED officials’ sent a forged arrest warrant to the victim, claiming his Aadhaar card had been used for money-laundering.
After an ‘online interrogation’, they instructed him to transfer funds from his bank account to a ‘supervision account’ apparently created to facilitate his release. Only after transferring 3.8 crore did the victim realise he had been conned. He then lodged a police complaint.
Police have already arrested five people in connection with this case. The assistant professor, P Parasuraman, 35, is the latest arrest. “Parasuraman played a crucial role in concealing properties belonging to the accused individuals. These properties were received through various delivery applications from previously arrested individuals,” an official release stated.
The probe revealed that Parasuraman was involved in suspicious account operations and illicit activities for approximately two years. In exchange for his involvement, he received a lump sum commission, police said.