Two young men were apprehended by the Kannur police for their role in a cyber fraud scheme, where they impersonated Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers to defraud an NRI ofRs12 lakh. The arrests were made by a police team led by Inspector Sreejith Koderi, targeting Jithin Das (29) from Thrissur’s Santhi Nagar and Irfan Iqbal (30) from Alappuzha.
The incident unfolded in September, when the victim, a resident of Chalad, Kannur, received a WhatsApp message from an unknown individual claiming to be a CBI officer based in Mumbai. The scammer alleged that the victim was implicated in a financial fraud scheme and faced a money laundering case, stating that he was under a “virtual arrest” by the CBI.
During the interaction, another individual posing as a CBI officer joined the call and conducted a video interrogation. After the supposed interrogation, the fraudsters directed the victim to transfer all his funds to a specified account for “verification.” Believing the scam, the victim complied and transferred Rs12 lakh. The call ended abruptly, leaving the victim without any further information or recourse, prompting him to file a complaint.
