Surat Cybercrime police arrested a 46-year-old woman from Kerala for her alleged involvement in a cyberfraud in which a city-based complainant was cheated of Rs 13.10 lakh on the pretext of earning high returns through stock market investments.The accused, Saleena Thadiyan, a resident of Chokkad village in Kerala’s Malappuram district, operated a firm with her son and provided its current bank account to cyberfraudsters to facilitate the transfer of money obtained through fraudulent activities, police said.According to the police complaint, the fraudsters lured the complainant with promises of returns exceeding 5% on stock market investments. The complainant was added to a group on a messaging app and persuaded to trade through a company. The accused also shared links to a fake website, where the complainant was asked to register and create an account.The fraudsters later shared forged documents purportedly issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), along with bank account details. Believing the claims to be genuine, the complainant transferred Rs 13.10 lakh into multiple accounts. However, when the complainant attempted to withdraw the money, the request was not processed, prompting a complaint with the Cybercrime police.DCP (Cybercrime) Bishakha Jain said that Saleena and her son had formed a firm and opened a current account in its name with Federal Bank. The account was used to route proceeds of cyberfraud, with Saleena receiving a commission of 3% on transactions in exchange for facilitating the transfer of funds.“When we reached her home in a remote village of Malappuram district, her son fled. We took her into custody,” Jain said.Investigators found that transactions totalling Rs 39.70 lakh were conducted through the account between Jan 9 and Jul 29 this year. A check of the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal revealed 12 complaints linked to the account across different states.Police said four FIRs had been registered in connection with the account in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Telangana. A total of Rs 33.40 lakh in suspected proceeds of cyberfraud had been credited to the account, police added.
