The complainant was coerced into transferring all his funds to a faux Reserve Bank account for “verification”.
| Photo Credit: thomaguery
The Cyber Crime Wing of the Greater Chennai City Police has intensified its investigation and traced cyber fraudsters working from overseas who defrauded ₹57 lakh from former Secretary to the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, T. Ramasami, 77. He is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, moreover a number of different awards.
Police mentioned Mr. Ramasami acquired an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) name in September, purportedly from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The caller alleged that SIM playing cards had been bought in his identify and that 14 complaints associated to unlawful ads and different crimes had been registered in opposition to him. He was instructed to look at a Delhi police station inside an hour.
Subsequently, he was requested to attach them through WhatsApp. When the sufferer mentioned he didn’t have the appliance put in on his cell phone, he was instructed to obtain it. The fraudsters, impersonating Delhi Police officers, then contacted him by way of WhatsApp and continued to stage fabricated prices, together with allegations of involvement in human trafficking and the opening of financial institution accounts in his identify at a Canara Bank department in Mumbai.
When Mr. Ramasami denied the allegations, the fraudsters displayed his Aadhaar card and a Canara Bank debit card bearing his identify throughout a WhatsApp video name, convincing him that his private knowledge had been compromised. Believing them to be real cops, he adopted their directions and remoted himself from his household and buddies, police mentioned.
The complainant was coerced into transferring all his funds to a faux Reserve Bank account for “verification”. The fraudsters assured him that the cash could be returned if it was discovered to be reputable. Under this pretext, he was instructed to switch his financial savings and mounted deposits.
In whole, Mr. Ramasami transferred ₹57 lakh to accounts specified by the fraudsters. The cash was then dispersed throughout a number of financial institution accounts, withdrawn by way of cheques in totally different components of the State, and subsequently transformed into cryptocurrency to obscure the cash path. The funds had been swiftly transferred overseas on the identical day, utilizing brokers to facilitate withdrawals and laundering operations.
Based on his grievance, a case was registered on November 6 by the Cyber Crime Wing of the Central Crime Branch.
A senior police officer mentioned a devoted group had been fashioned completely to crack down on the “digital arrest” rip-off syndicate. “Using advanced technical tools and blockchain analysis, the team identified that the WhatsApp calls originated from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The funds received in mule accounts were diversified across multiple bank accounts, layered through shell entities, and eventually routed to foreign wallets or cryptocurrency exchanges. These online operations were controlled from Tokyo and Singapore,” the officer mentioned.
Greater Chennai City Police Commissioner A. Arun cautioned the general public in opposition to such faux calls, high-profit funding ads, fraudulent funding apps, and web sites. He suggested folks to not switch cash to unknown financial institution accounts and warned that those that open financial institution accounts to facilitate fraudulent transactions would additionally face authorized motion.
Published – December 15, 2025 07:08 pm IST