Fraudster posing as middleman dupes car buyer of Rs 14L on OLX; held

Chennai: Tambaram Cyber Crime Police arrested a call centre employee from Bengaluru for posing as a middleman on OLX and attempting to dupe two IT professionals — one trying to sell a car, and the other who wanted to buy it.

The accused, identified as Rajesh, was nabbed after Sathish, 32, filed a complaint in Dec 2025 with Cyber Crime Wing of the Central Crime Branch, Tambaram City Police.

An OLX user Bharath had listed his two-year-old car for sale while Sathish was looking to buy a used vehicle on the same platform.

Rajesh contacted the two men individually, claiming to be acquainted to the other party. He had told Bharath that a buyer was willing to pay Rs 24 lakh, well above the car’s market value of around Rs 18 lakh. To Sathish, he pitched the same car at just Rs 14 lakh.

Convinced, Sathish transferred Rs 14.5 lakh after inspecting the vehicle over a video call. The fraud unravelled only when both men met at Sathish’s residence to complete the transaction and realised there was no deal, only a middleman had escaped with the money.

Police traced Rajesh through bank transaction data and telecom records. During questioning, Rajesh claimed that a friend had requested to use his bank account to receive money on account of a relative’s wedding.

The mobile phone seized from the accused was traced to a previous owner now lodged in Virudhunagar sub-jail, while the SIM card had been procured separately. Police suspect Rajesh may not have acted alone and are now working to unravel the network behind the fraud.

Rajesh has been remanded in judicial custody.Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Bakrid wishes, messages and eid 2026