The Kadapa police busted a cyber crime on Wednesday and arrested two persons for reportedly luring more than 100 persons into making deposits with the assurance of doubling their money. As many as 23 bank accounts of the suspects, involving ₹62.5 crore, have been frozen.
Four complaints were received in Kadapa I Town, Chapadu, Mydukur and Duvvuru police stations, where the victims complained about how they had been duped by pressing the link in the bulk SMS and WhatsApp messages sent from fictitious numbers.
The modus operandi of the criminals was to circulate details of ‘money making apps’ among public. After they click on the link, the scamsters used to ask them to play games or do simple tasks if they wished to double their money.
“In this manner, they duped more than hundred people who had made huge deposits into the virtual payment address. By the time the victims understand they had been tricked, the offenders block them from the website and their WhatsApp accounts,” SP K.K.N. Anburajan told the media here on Wednesday.
The string of events saw light only after Ghouse Basha of Yerramukkapalli in the city filed a complaint that he had deposited ₹1.30 lakh in the ‘money making app’ aiming to double his investment.
The cyber crime police found that the money, to the tune of ₹3 crore, swindled from the public had been transferred to different accounts. Another victim Dandu Naga Chaitanya shared vital details to the police, based on which the police found the involvement of Gokul (28) and Muruganandam (58), both from Tamil Nadu.
As the two had already been arrested by the Dehradun police for similar offences, the Kadapa police brought them through PT warrant, produced them before the local court and sent them to remand.
