October 26, 2025

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) police caught two more crooks in a daring ₹44 lakh ‘digital arrest scam.’ Shockingly, one is an assistant bank manager! The victim, 83-year-old Pattabi from Virugambakkam, got a chilling WhatsApp call between September 1 and 12. The caller, claiming to be Inspector Shankar from Mumbai’s Crime Branch, accused Pattabi of illegal money transfers and threatened his arrest. To prove his innocence, Pattabi was told to transfer his money to a fake "Reserve Bank" account. Trusting the caller, Pattabi transferred his entire savings and fixed deposits—₹44 lakh—in two RTGS payments. But when he called back, he was asked for more money. Realising it was a scam, Pattabi complained to the Police Commissioner. The Cyber Crime Wing found out ₹40.35 lakh moved from Pattabi’s account to an IndusInd Bank account in Telangana. From there, the money split into several accounts across different states, quickly withdrawn through cheques. Even worse, crooks were sending the stolen cash abroad the same day! Further digging revealed ₹5.1 lakh came from an account in Sholinghur, Ranipet district, and an eye-popping ₹80 lakh shuffled through multiple accounts owned by Lakshmanan (38) and Medi Sivakumar (41), both from Sholinghur. Police arrested them on October 10. They froze all the fraudulent accounts. The plot thickened when investigators found R. Ramachandramurthy (30), an assistant manager at a private bank's Anna Salai branch, helped open many accounts used to stash scam money. Another accused, Mohammed Musfiq (20) of Ramanathapuram, worked as a money transfer agent. Both were caught in Chennai on Friday, October 26, 2025. Police seized two mobiles and ten SIM cards used in the scam. The thrilling hunt for more gang members continues, said the police, making sure no stone is left unturned in this high-tech fraud case.

Read More at Thehindu →

Tags: Digital arrest scam, Ccb police, Bank fraud, Elderly victim, Money laundering, Arrests,