The Tiruppur District (Rural) Police on Friday unearthed an illegal telephone exchange operated for foreign-based instant loan apps and arrested five persons, all of Kerala.
The investigators found that the accused used 11 SIM boxes, a device capable of holding scores of SIM cards and routing international calls to local numbers. They also used Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications to route the internet calls and threaten gullible victims of loan apps.
A special police team arrested the five persons who ran the illegal telephone exchange. They were identified as Mohammed Askar, 24, and Mohammed Shafi, 36, of Kozhikode district, Mohammed Saleem, 37, M. Aneeshmon, 33, and S. Ashraf, 46, of Malappuram district. A total of 500 SIM cards, modems, computers and other accessories were seized from them.
The police launched the investigation after a woman hailing from Pongupalayam near Perumanallur filed a complaint. According to the complaint, the woman had availed herself of a loan of ₹3,000 from the Paisa Home app on December 15. After repayment of the amount, she started getting multiple SMSs offering additional loans.
According to the police, the woman further availed herself of ₹15,000 from four loan apps — Speed Loan (Nigeria), Candy Pay (Indonesia), Easy Loan (Nigeria) and Lucky Money (China) — on December 28. The woman approached the Tiruppur district cybercrime police station after she started getting innumerable SMSs demanding repayment of the cash and obscene messages to her WhatsApp number.
The police launched an investigation after registering a case under Section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code and 66 D (punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.
Superintendent of Police Shashank Sai constituted a special team, headed by Additional SP Krishnasamy and cybercrime inspector Chithra Devi. The team traced the accused to Khaderpet in Tiruppur where they operated the illegal telephone exchange in their rental rooms. The investigators found out that the accused primarily helped the loan apps based abroad to convert the internet calls for commission. According to the police, Saleem was involved in a case registered by the Kottiyam police in Kerala and Aneeshmon in a case booked by the Kanathur police.
Published - January 07, 2023 12:35 am IST
