Following the arrest of eight Nigerian nationals early this week in connection with an email lottery scam, Thane police are on the look-out for their Indian accomplices.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) PG Kendre said today that the arrested accused were residing in Thane area since 2010, after arriving in India as students or traders.
The scam was operated by sending emails announcing that the recipient had won an online lottery, and should pay certain amount as "processing fee" before the award could be deposited in his/her account.
Documents such as RBI's 'ATM certificate' were used to convince prospective victims about the genuineness of the offer, police said.
The accused used over a dozen bank accounts to collect the money from gullible victims, police said. Most of the accounts were with State Bank of India, ICICI and HDFC Bank.
Police are now looking for the Indian citizens who helped the accused.