Crackdown on online fraud: TN Police arrest 7 cyber criminals from four states

Chennai, June 3 (IANS) In a major breakthrough against organised cybercrime, the Cyber Crime Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police has arrested seven individuals from across the country under a nationwide operation titled ‘Operation Hydra’.

In a statement, cyberpolice said that the suspects were found to be involved in a range of frauds, including matrimonial scams, phishing, digital loan frauds, and fake scholarship schemes.

Police teams were dispatched to various states -- Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Assam, and New Delhi -- to apprehend the accused.

According to officials, the arrests are part of an intensified drive to dismantle interstate cybercrime syndicates.

On May 28, two suspects, Mohammed Dawood (21) and Mohammed Vaseem (34), were arrested in Jaspur, Uttarakhand. Both were allegedly managing mule bank accounts used to route and launder money gained from matrimonial fraud cases.

In another case registered at the State Cyber Crime headquarters, a victim lost Rs 4.05 lakh to a phishing scam.

The scammer, posing as an ICICI Bank customer care executive, sent a fake mobile application (APK file) via WhatsApp under the pretext of updating KYC details. Once installed, the malware accessed the victim’s personal and financial data, including PAN and debit card details. Subsequently, on May 30, police arrested Pankaj Kumar (40) from Jharkhand, followed by the arrest of Hiteswar Biswas (30) in Hojai, Assam on May 31, and Nihar Ranjan Nath (51) from Nagaon, Assam on June 1.

All three were part of a wider fraud network involved in digital lending app scams and managing fraudulent bank accounts.

In another significant case, the Thanjavur Cyber Crime Police Station uncovered a scholarship scam where students were duped under the pretext of receiving government aid for education. Scammers collected personal data and nominal ‘processing fees’ before disappearing.

Acting on this complaint, police arrested Preeti Nicholas (30) and Meshach (19) from northeast Delhi on June 1. Both were involved in collecting student data and fabricating forged documents to support the scam.

Police officials confirmed that nine arrests have been made so far in connection with scholarship-related fraud over the past two months.

Investigations are ongoing to trace the remaining network members involved in these cyber crimes.

--IANS

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