The Coimbatore District (Rural) Police have frozen a bank account, with a total balance of about ₹1.15 crore, after it was found involved in fraudulent activity. The police took action with the assistance of the bank after the holder of the account was found to have duped a man from Coimbatore district of about ₹7 lakh.
According to the police, Suresh Rajan (60) from Perur near Coimbatore lodged a complaint with the cybercrime station, stating that an unknown person cheated him of the money.
Mr. Rajan complained to the police that he fell prey to the fraudster while searching for a part-time job. An unknown person sent a web link to the complainant via the Telegram app for a job. The complainant was given certain tasks as work for which he was rewarded. Trusting the unknown person, Mr. Rajan invested a total of ₹7,81,041, for which he was assured to get high returns. The sum was paid to the fraudster in 13 transactions. He approached the police after realising that he was cheated of the money, the police said.
The cybercrime police identified the bank account to which the fraudster made Mr. Rajan transfer the cash. Based on the request from the police, the bank froze the account which had a balance of ₹1,15,93,033.
Coimbatore District Superintendent of Police V. Badrinarayanan appealed to the public to be cautious of such advertisements and promises by unknown persons who contact through social media and messaging applications. People who lose their money through online scams have been advised to report such incidents immediately to the number 1930 or via www.cybercrime.gov.in.
