Airport cabbie, pal caught for iPad fraud

Apple might be mighty pleased at the number of iPads people bring through the gates of the Chennai international airport, when returning from a foreign trip. But for two city-based youths who were running an SMS con, promising iPads imported from the orient at half the price, it will be a long time before they see an electronic slate again.

Based on a complaint registered by engineer Kishore Reddy (29) at the airport police station last week, police were alerted to the fact that such a con was underway. According to the police, Reddy revealed that he received an SMS offering “original iPads for half the price” following which he called the sender and made enquiries. He was told that the items would have to be procured from the ‘customs men’ inside upon paying the money, after which he would return immediately. “The man reasoned with him that there was no other way out of the airport and asked him to wait in sight of the entrance,” said a police official. He then took `50000 from him (for two iPads) and entered the airport.

After a very jittery hour, Reddy apparently panicked and went searching for the man, but was turned away. The man’s phone was switched off. In an agitated frame of mind, he approached the police and told them what had happened. Quite by coincidence, that very evening, another youth named Dinakaran, a high schooler from Kolathur, came to the police with a similar complaint - he claimed to have paid half the sum only, but was duped in full measure.

A special team was formed by the police to track down the fraudsters and they began tracking the phone number that Reddy had corresponded with. “We tracked their signal and found that they were in Pattinapakkam. The team went in and made one arrest,” confirmed an aiport police official.

Jaffar Khan (21) was found to be a taxi driver who was used to the working of the airport and systems there. His friend Karthik (23) was also picked up and they were charged with fraud and cheating. The duo was remanded to custody at the Alandur court on Friday.