Alappuzha (Kerala), Nov 9 (PTI) A man from Hyderabad has been arrested for allegedly cheating a resident of Alappuzha in Kerala to the tune of Rs 29 lakh by luring him into a fraudulent online share trading scheme, police said.
Mohammad Adnan has been taken into custody in a joint operation carried out by Telangana Cyber Crime Police and the Alappuzha Cybercrime Police.
The accused person contacted he the victim, a resident of Kalapura in Alappuzha of Kerala, via Facebook and lured him into an online share trading scheme, by making fake promise that he could make substantial profits.
The accused sent the victim a link to a fake share trading website, which appeared to show growing profits as the victim made investments, police said.
The scam was promoted in the guise of 40th anniversary celebrations of the share trading platform, with the promise that investing USD 10,000 would yield a profit of USD 1,388.
As the victim continued to invest more money, the fake trading website continued to display artificially inflated profits. However, when the victim attempted to withdraw his profit and capital, he was demanded to pay 'a 30 percent income tax' as it was termed by the accused, before he could access his funds, added police.
It was at this point that the victim realized it to be a fraud and reported the incident to the Alappuzha Cybercrime Police, registering an FIR through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
An investigation was launched, leading to the freezing of over Rs 6 lakh, cheated from the Alappuzha native and deposited in different bank accounts by the scamsters.
Further investigation revealed that the fraudsters transferred the cheated money to multiple bank accounts across various states, including Delhi, Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana. With the assistance of the Telangana Cyber Crime Coordination Center and Rajakonda Cyber Crime Police Station, the police traced the accused to LB Nagar in Hyderabad.
Mohammad Adnan was arrested on charges of online fraud and money laundering. He was produced before the LB Nagar Additional Metropolitan Magistrate's Court and subsequently sent to Alappuzha Police on transit remand on Friday. The accused is also linked to two other cases of fraud in Telangana, where he allegedly cheated a doctor in Hayat Nagar of a significant amount.
Police officers said that investigation is ongoing, with a focus on IP addresses and bank accounts in other states, including Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi, and Assam, to identify others involved in the scam.
The accused has been remanded to judicial custody in Alappuzha District Jail.