Cyber fraudsters use Kerala Auto driver's bank account to cheat TN businessman of Rs 2.2 crore

CHENNAI: A businessman from Salem lost over Rs 2.2 crore to cyber fraudsters who lured him into investing his money in forex trading, promising exponential profit.

Tamil Nadu Police's cyber crime wing team which traced the bank account to which the victim's money was transferred found that the account belonged to an auto driver in Kerala, who gave his bank account details to the cyber fraudsters for commission.

According to the police, the complainant was contacted via phone by a member of the con gang in July this year by posing as a Forex trading expert, stating that their company was SEBI-approved.

"The fraudster convinced the complainant to invest more by convincing words and mentioning the names of many other important entrepreneurs to gain trust. After that, the company appointed someone to speak to the victim and convinced him to send money. The victim had sent a total amount of Rs.2,2 crore," an official release stated.

When the complainant wanted to retrieve some money from the investment, the fraudsters sought another Rs 50 lakh after which the complainant raised several questions and demanded the entire investment back.

Immediately, the fraudsters changed the company's name from Xtreme Traders Ltd to Catalyst markets ltd and it was only then the complainant realized they committed confidence fraud and filed a complaint in the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.

Acting on the complaint, a special team identified the mule bank account holder, M Ubaidulla, an auto driver residing in Malappuram, Kerala.

The probe revealed that Ubaidulla opened a mule current account in the name of Swabah Feed Agency and rented his bank account to be used by the cyber fraudsters for 1 Lakh and got Rs.40,000 as advance.

He was arrested for creating the mule account and renting it to cyber fraudsters to scam the public.