Chenna

Online loan fraud: gang held

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The Anti-Bank Fraud Wing of the Central Crime Branch on Thursday arrested six persons who were running a call centre in Pazhavanthangal and cheated several persons who sought loans online.

Police said the main suspect, Selva Prabu, 28, was running the call centre, I Grow, on the first floor of a building which also houses a nationalised bank. He and his associates engaged 40 telecallers, most of them women. The telecallers would call people and ask if they need quick loans. On ascertaining their need, the telecallers would offer quick online loans at cheaper rates and would pass the call to another person in the centre. After collecting all details, either by WhatsApp or mail, they would ask the victims to deposit ₹50,000 as processing charge to avail a ₹5 lakh loan or as per the individual’s demand.

After getting the OTP from the victim under the pretext of getting the loan payment, they transferred the money through a series of processes, to bank accounts created by fraudsters in fictitious names. In case the victim expressed inability to maintain minimum balance of ₹50,000, the gang would raise the loan from the bank with the details collected from the victim and swindle the money from the victim’s account, sources said.

Police said the suspects are Selva Prabu, his associates Sivakumar, Vinodh and three women - Muthamizh Selvi, Lavanya and Anandhi, who worked as tele-callers.

The gang is suspected to have cheated more 1,000 persons.

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