Man held for scamming over Rs 1 cr promising corporate jobs

TIRUVALLUR: The cyber crime police have arrested a 35-year-old man who reportedly swindled several unemployed people across the state to the tune of Rs 1 crore. He was arrested based on a complaint by a man in Tiruvallur, who was cheated off Rs 2.3 lakh after he was promised a job.

The complainant Prashanth, a resident of Manavalan Nagar was an engineering graduate looking for a job during the pandemic. He had applied to several companies online and was awaiting interview calls. He got a call from a woman claiming to be from a corporate company in Hosur who invited him for an interview online. “She told him that all his qualifications were relevant to the role they were looking for and within a few days confirmed that he bagged the job,” police said. Overjoyed Prashanth sent all his documents by email to the company and was awaiting the appointment offer. However, the woman told him that before they send him a letter of confirmation, he should send money to cover his joining, documentation expenses and also for his insurance. Trusting her, over an year, Prashanth sent money online to the tune of Rs 2.3 lakh. Within a few weeks, the victim received a letter of appointment from the company but after that there were no updates.

“Shocked, the victim lodged a complaint with the cyber crime unit in Tiruvallur,” police said. A special team revealed that the brain behind the scam was Sandeep hailing from Dharmapuri. “The accused was absconding and we traced his whereabouts to Sriperumbudur and arrested him,” police said. Police recovered two mobile phones and four sim cards from the accused. However, the police could not nab Sandeep’s accomplice Lavanya, who was also his second wife.