Two engineering graduates, who created a fake website of an information technology company and cheated aspiring job-seekers after sending them employment offers, were arrested by the Cyber Crime police here on Saturday night. A security guard of the city-based company was also arrested for providing the database of job applicants to the accused.
According to police sources, the company authorities lodged a complaint with Commissioner of Police T. Rajendran that a person had sent fake employment offers in the firm’s name to three youths and collected money from them.
A special team of the Cyber Crime Cell, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police M. Sudhakar, that investigated the case, found that two suspects had approached security guard S. Raju (33) of the IT company and managed to obtain a copy of the database containing details of candidates who came for job interviews in the recent past.
After creating a website that resembled the original one, the accused asked a few candidates to appear for an interview. They used a pre-paid SIM card that had a fake address.
When three candidates responded, the accused asked a few questions and said the outcome of the interview would be communicated online.
A couple of days later, the three received e-mails which stated they had been selected for the job and they had to deposit Rs.30,000 in the company’s bank account.
Believing this, the trio deposited money in the account of a nationalised bank which was actually that of a person in Assam.
The accused had stolen his debit card for transacting through automated teller machines (ATMs) located in remote areas. They created the website at an Internet browsing centre where they gave false identity particulars.
“It was a complex case. Though a technology crime, the accused had managed not to leave any specific clue behind.
While calling candidates for interview, they used software that would convert male voice to that of a female. The duo used ATMs where cameras were not installed. In some ATMs, they wore helmets or caps to draw money,” Dr. Sudhakar said.
Though the money cheated was only about Rs.2.4 lakh, the methods they adopted were new. Following a tip-off, police apprehended M. Karthikeyan (26) of Puducherry, who has an engineering degree in information technology, and V. Raja (27) of Namakkal, an electrical and electronics engineering graduate. The security guard was also arrested.
