Nigerian held in Kerala for online fraud

KANNUR, INDIA: A Nigerian national was arrested here for cheating people of millions of rupees in an Internet scam, Kerala police said Friday.

State police's cyber wing chief Tomin J. Thachenkery said 34-year-old Emmanuel was part of a gang that would send e-mails to people promising them huge amounts of money. Then they would ask the victims to deposit an amount as the transaction fee.

"He arrived from Mumbai today (Friday) morning and was arrested. After questioning him we have found out that he is a bigger catch than the first arrest we made," Thachenkery told IANS.

On Aug 8, police had arrested another Nigerian national Shaba Abdul Rasheed, believed to be the kingpin of the gang.

Thachenkery said that Emmanuel was trapped by policemen posing as clients.

"Our investigations have revealed that many have fallen into this gang's trap and they operate from Laos (in Southeast Asia). We found out that they have Indian partners who help them by opening bank accounts for the victims to transfer the processing fees. Such people will also be arrested," said Thachenkeri.

©IANS