Three guys from Tamil Nadu were detained by Delhi police on Monday after they discovered an online extortion ring operating out of Veal Pon, Cambodia's capital city, that was targeting Indians under the guise of blocking their computers so they could watch online porn.
The group used to send fake pop-up notices to internet users posing as local cops, requesting Rs 3,000 in order to escape legal prosecution for watching porn. Investigators discovered that at least Rs 30 lakh was robbed through as many as 20 bank accounts.Gabrial James and Ram Kumar, both from Chennai, were arrested, as was their third associate, B.Dhinushan from Trichy.
Anyesh Roy, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Cell), stated they discovered that Dhinushanth's brother, B. Chanderkant, was in charge of the technical side of the operation, including the hosting of bogus police notices and their targeted transmission to internet users. Chanderkant is based in the Cambodian town of Veal Pon.
The fake pop-up messages were being routed through foreign locations, according to the initial investigation. “ We were suspicious, so we followed the money trail, which led to various accounts in Tamil Nadu where the money had been put. Our crews tented in Chennai, Trichy, Coimbatore, Udhagamandalam, and other locations based on this, and eventually managed to aresst three suspects including the local mastermind, B. Dhinushanth. All of them were arrested flowing raids," Roy said.
During the interrogation, Dhinushanth revealed to authorities that his brother, B. Chanderkant, was in charge of the technical aspects of the operation.
Police have also discovered that the looted money was routed through more than 20 bank accounts, totaling more than Rs 30 lakh. “Dhinushanth also told investigators that his brother Chandru was moving the money out of the banking system using cryptocurrency," Roy said.