A Nigerian, Paul Osagie, was among three persons arrested by the Chennai Police in Bangalore, India on Thursday in connection with an online lottery fraud, police sources have said.
Based on a complaint lodged by Dinesh Kumar (21), a third year engineering student of a private university, that he was swindled of Rs. 1.34 lakh by unidentified persons after he responded to an online lottery prize sent through text message, a special team of the Central Crime Branch was formed to investigate the matter.
The complainant said that he received a text message, that he had won $2m in 'yahoo-msn lottery draw'.
When he replied to an email address given in the message, a man claiming to be a diplomat in the United Kingdom responded, saying that the prize money would be delivered in India, he asked Kumar to deposit Rs. 1.34 lakh in two different accounts of ICICI Bank.
The money, the accused said, was for local taxes and customs clearance.
After Kumar deposited the money, it was drawn in an ATM centre in Bangalore. The accused called back from a mobile number and said Rs. 3 lakh more had to be deposited in the same accounts towards airport charges. Suspecting foul play, the student lodged a complaint with the Commissioner of Police J.K. Tripathy.
“This is yet another case where bank accounts and SIM cards activated with bogus documents become effective tools in the hands of culprits. Video footage at an ATM centre in Bangalore showed two persons drawing the money.
“Following specific clues, the team arrested Osagie (41), and his associates Mohamed Afzal (29) of Mumbai and Rajesh Viswanath Kedia (49) of Kolkata. Rs. 94,000 was recovered from the possession of Cyril,” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police M. Sudhakar said.
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