Two men from Chennai who cheated hundreds of job aspirants by floating a fake website of Oikos, a well-known Netherlands-based non governmental organisation, were arrested on Thursday.
According to the Central Crime Branch (CCB) police, the Netherlands visa information centre in Gopalapuram received numerous enquires from young people in the city, from April, regarding the job placement details at Oikos.
Suspecting something amiss, the Dutch embassy authorities lodged a complaint with the city police commissioner, S. George, who ordered the cyber crime wing of the CCB to undertake a probe.
Investigations revealed the fake Oikos portal had been created to recruit workers mainly for the construction sector.
“Many aspirants, including more than 30 from Chennai, were called for a medical test to a hospital in Bangalore, in April end, and asked to pay a deposit of Rs. 5,000 each. The applicants also came into contact with people from the rest of Tamil Nadu,” said an investigating officer.
After learning the Chennai applicants were being guided by Manivannan (30), manager of Vikash Consultants in Perambur, the police team nabbed him.
Following interrogation, Manivannan revealed the kingpin behind the racket was Senthil Kumar (34), a carpenter with Southern Railway. Senthil was arrested on Wednesday, and computers and other documents were seized from the two men.
“The suspects were planning to cheat each of the applicants of a few lakhs, promising them various placements in the western European nation, with a monthly pay, ranging between USD 3,000 and USD 5,000,” said the officer.
