Fraudsters using matrimony platforms extensively: Police

Kochi: City cyber police investigating the Cambodia-based cyber fraud have found that fraudsters were extensively using matrimonial sites to identify potential victims. Police will soon seek custody of a Palakkad native who was arrested in the case on Sunday.

Senior officers said the accused, Abdu Rahman of Thootha, was under radar of cyber police for a while and they issued a lookout circular against his name. He was arrested when he arrived in Delhi over the weekend. The arrest was made in a case where an Ernakulam-based doctor was swindled of Rs 37 lakh in the name of trading by scamsters who befriended him through a matrimonial site.

Investigation into the case revealed that hundreds of profiles were being made on matrimonial platforms by the accused to target potential victims. The switch to matrimonial platforms was in the aftermath of people becoming more cautious of scams on the social media due to a rise in awareness. Police said more than 1,000 such profiles have been removed from matrimonial platforms by city cyber police.

Officers say that on matrimonial platforms, fake profiles are created in the names of women and men to contact other people. After getting acquainted under the pretext of marriage and becoming friends, they are asked to do trading in the name of savings for future. Since it is requested by the prospective groom or bride and since very high profits are promised, victims often fall for this fraud, police say.

Police said that Rahman was a key figure in the gang that controlled frauds, including digital arrest, from Cambodia. Rahman, according to police, was working at a fraud centre in Cambodia since 2022. Although his job initially involved sending messages and making phone calls to victims, his Chinese bosses made him a team leader considering his efficiency, police say. Police are hoping to receive more information about the racket by questioning him in detail. Accused was remanded in judicial custody on Sunday.