Four persons, including a husband, wife, and their son, were arrested for allegedly selling fake mobile phones by claiming they were in urgent need of money.

Police said the complainant, Sathyaraj, 31, from Tiruvannamalai district, has been staying in Poonamallee and working as a car driver in Chennai. On the afternoon of May 4, while he was resting inside his car on Valliammal College Street in Anna Nagar, four persons approached him.

They allegedly told him that their child was unwell and they urgently needed money to take the child to a hospital. They also claimed that they needed money to pay house rent and requested him to buy their Vivo mobile phone, stating that it was purchased just a month earlier. Believing them, Sathyaraj paid ₹12,000 and bought the phone.

Later that evening, when he took the device to a mobile phone shop near his residence for testing, he discovered that it was a counterfeit phone. He then lodged a complaint with the crime wing of the Anna Nagar police station seeking action against the fraudsters and recovery of his money.

Based on the complaint, police investigated and arrested the accused. The arrested persons were identified as Balu, 49, from Jalgaon district of Maharashtra; his wife Pramilabai, 42; their son Praveen, 18; and their relative Dhanraj, 27, also from Jalgaon district. Police seized 26 fake mobile phones, 27 chargers and ₹9,000 in cash from them.

Inquiry revealed that the accused purchased counterfeit mobile phones from Mumbai and sold them in Chennai to unsuspecting people. The devices were sold at high prices by falsely claiming they were genuine branded phones and citing emergencies to gain sympathy.