KOCHI: Nearly 60,000 candidates with engineering and other professional background were taken for a ride by a racket that hosted a fake website of the Central Ocean Regulatory Authority. It also collected Rs 300 from each of them as examination fee for a recruitment to fill up various vacancies in the authority.
State police stumbled upon the racket when people from various parts of the country reached Muvattupuzha seeking directions to the office of the authority, which as per the website was headquartered at Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam.
Police found that the racket had also collected huge amounts as deposits from the candidates after promising them jobs as administrative assistants.
"The candidates were asked to deposit money online in an account of a nationalized bank in Muvattupuzha. We found that the particular account was opened in the name of person hailing from Chhattisgarh," said Muvattupuzha circle inspector Famous Varghese.
As per the website, the authority under the Government of India was conducting a nationwide exam to fill up various posts. "We started tracking activities of the racket after people from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and other states started coming to Muvattupuzha in search of the organization," the inspector said, adding that a case was registered after candidates lodged a complaint.
Police said that the racket duped nearly Rs1.8 crore from various candidates. "Malayalis are also involved and we suspect this is the handiwork of anti-nationals," said officers, adding that they had collected the details of the account holder and the network of the racket.
The circle inspector said that they would approach the department highlighting the need to hand over the probe to a national agency as this network extends to other parts of the country and local police have limited resources for further investigation. "The fraud was planned meticulously. The cyber wing is trying to locate the IP address from which the page is being hosted," they said.KOCHI:
Nearly 60,000 candidates with engineering and other professional educational background were taken for a ride by a racket which hosted a fake website in the name "Central Ocean Regulatory Authority" and collected Rs 300 from each of them as examination fees for a recruitment to fill up various vacancies in the authority.
State Police have stumbled upon the activities of the racket when people from various parts of the country started reaching Muvattupuzha enquiring for the office of the Authority which as per the website was headquartered at Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam. Police found that the racket had also collected huge amounts as deposits from the candidates after promising them to get jobs of administrative assistants in the authority. "The candidates were asked to deposit money online in an account of a nationalised bank in Muvattupuzha. We found that the particular account was opened in the name of person hailing from Chhattisgarh," said Muvattupuzha Circle Inspector Famous Varghese.
As per the website, the Authority was under the Government of India and they were conducting a nation-wide examination to fill up different posts. "We started tracking the activities of the racket after people from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh and other states started coming to Muvattupuzha in search of the organisation," the Inspector said and added that a case was registered after the candidates lodged a complaint with the police.
As per the probe, candidates mainly from northern states were duped by the racket which had raised nearly Rs 1. 8 crore through the fraud. "There is involvement of Malayalees and we suspect handiwork of anti-nationals behind the fraud," police officials said and added that they had collected the details of the account holder and the network of the racket.
The Circle Inspector said that they would approach the police higher highlighting the need to hand over the probe to a national agency as the network of the suspects extended to other parts of the country and the local police had limited resources in further probing the case. "The fraud has been meticulously planned. The cyber wing is trying to locate the IP address from which the page has been hosted," the police officials said.
State police stumbled upon the racket when people from various parts of the country reached Muvattupuzha seeking directions to the office of the authority, which as per the website was headquartered at Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam.
Police found that the racket had also collected huge amounts as deposits from the candidates after promising them jobs as administrative assistants.
"The candidates were asked to deposit money online in an account of a nationalized bank in Muvattupuzha. We found that the particular account was opened in the name of person hailing from Chhattisgarh," said Muvattupuzha circle inspector Famous Varghese.
As per the website, the authority under the Government of India was conducting a nationwide exam to fill up various posts. "We started tracking activities of the racket after people from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and other states started coming to Muvattupuzha in search of the organization," the inspector said, adding that a case was registered after candidates lodged a complaint.
Police said that the racket duped nearly Rs1.8 crore from various candidates. "Malayalis are also involved and we suspect this is the handiwork of anti-nationals," said officers, adding that they had collected the details of the account holder and the network of the racket.
The circle inspector said that they would approach the department highlighting the need to hand over the probe to a national agency as this network extends to other parts of the country and local police have limited resources for further investigation. "The fraud was planned meticulously. The cyber wing is trying to locate the IP address from which the page is being hosted," they said.KOCHI:
Nearly 60,000 candidates with engineering and other professional educational background were taken for a ride by a racket which hosted a fake website in the name "Central Ocean Regulatory Authority" and collected Rs 300 from each of them as examination fees for a recruitment to fill up various vacancies in the authority.
State Police have stumbled upon the activities of the racket when people from various parts of the country started reaching Muvattupuzha enquiring for the office of the Authority which as per the website was headquartered at Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam. Police found that the racket had also collected huge amounts as deposits from the candidates after promising them to get jobs of administrative assistants in the authority. "The candidates were asked to deposit money online in an account of a nationalised bank in Muvattupuzha. We found that the particular account was opened in the name of person hailing from Chhattisgarh," said Muvattupuzha Circle Inspector Famous Varghese.
As per the website, the Authority was under the Government of India and they were conducting a nation-wide examination to fill up different posts. "We started tracking the activities of the racket after people from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh and other states started coming to Muvattupuzha in search of the organisation," the Inspector said and added that a case was registered after the candidates lodged a complaint with the police.
As per the probe, candidates mainly from northern states were duped by the racket which had raised nearly Rs 1. 8 crore through the fraud. "There is involvement of Malayalees and we suspect handiwork of anti-nationals behind the fraud," police officials said and added that they had collected the details of the account holder and the network of the racket.
The Circle Inspector said that they would approach the police higher highlighting the need to hand over the probe to a national agency as the network of the suspects extended to other parts of the country and the local police had limited resources in further probing the case. "The fraud has been meticulously planned. The cyber wing is trying to locate the IP address from which the page has been hosted," the police officials said.