The Cyber Crime Unit of the Greater Chennai Police has arrested multiple individuals involved in a growing trend of online part-time job scams that primarily target women. Arrests were made in Washermenpet and Virugambakkam on Tuesday.
In the first case, 39-year-old S Veeraraghavan from Thirunindravur was arrested following a complaint by K Mohanapriya, 27, from New Washermenpet. Mohanapriya reported a loss of over Rs4.5 lakh after falling victim to a fraudulent job scheme. The scam promised Rs200 per task for sharing YouTube video screenshots via a Telegram group. Gradually, she was coaxed into paying more—eventually making 49 payments totaling Rs4.5 lakh. When she requested to withdraw her earnings and promised profits, she was asked to invest even more, prompting her to file a complaint.
Based on the bank transactions linked to Mohanapriya’s case, police tracked and arrested Veeraraghavan.
A police official explained that these scams often involve deceptively simple tasks like sharing content or posting five-star reviews for businesses in other states. Victims are initially paid small amounts to build trust but are later persuaded to “invest” for higher returns—money they never recover.
In a separate case handled by the West Zone cyber crime unit, V Nagananthini, 27, from Virugambakkam, lost Rs3.61 lakh after being deceived in a similar Telegram-based job scam. She was promised payouts for completing basic online tasks.
Police arrested P Selvam, 28, and S Saravanan, 29, both from Thiruvannamalai, for their involvement in this fraud.
All three accused were presented before a magistrate and have been remanded in judicial custody.
