Retired Government Employee Loses Rs16.7 Million in Online Investment Scam, Four Suspects Arrested

Recently, Indian police in Chennai arrested four suspects for committing an investment scam, one of whom had also been involved in fraudulent activities in Cambodia.

According to police officers from India's Cyber Crime Wing (CCW), the victim in this case was a 67-year-old retired government employee.

By chance, the victim saw an advertisement on YouTube offering investment advice, which featured the names of two well-known financial companies. He contacted the suspect arrested through the number left in the video.

On their advice, the elderly opened an account on a trading website and deposited 16.7 million rupees (about $204,000) into the account through several transactions. But he was blocked when he tried to withdraw some of the funds.

Suspicious, the victim filed a complaint on India's National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.

After receiving the complaint, the CCW registered a case and analyzed the money trail. They found that the victim's money went into the account of a shell company, CMST Consultancy.

After investigation, the police arrested N. Mohammed Ismail, B. Abudahir, Kaleel Ahmed and D. Kesavaraj and seized items such as phones, laptops, debit cards and cheque books from their possession.

In addition, the suspect Ahmed, who recently returned to India, had been a member of a scam syndicate in Cambodia.