Copyright deccanchronicle
Hyderabad: Cyber-criminals looted Rs 5.68 crore from citizens in Hyderabad in 196 separate cases during October. Cyber Crime officials arrested 55 accused persons and managed to refund Rs 62.34 lakh of the total fraud amount to the victims.The accused operated 61 bank accounts through which transactions amounting to around Rs 107 crore had been carried out. The accused were found to be involved in 136 cases across India, including 45 cases within Telangana.According to police officials, the arrests were linked to two business fraud cases, one credit card fraud, five digital arrest scams, 18 investment or trading frauds, four Social media-related offences, one insurance fraud, one loan fraud and one job fraud.In one of the digital arrest scams, a 62-year-old victim lodged a complaint stating that he received a call from an unknown person posing as a Mumbai Crime Branch officer. The caller claimed that the victim’s phone number and Aadhaar card were linked to illegal activities.The victim was then connected to another person claiming to be an “investigation officer” who threatened arrest and reputational damage. The victim was manipulated into depositing Rs 1.07 crore under the guise of a money-laundering investigation.During the investigation, the police arrested Himanshu Singh of Pratapgarh, Ramesh Kumar of Lucknow, Abhishek Pandey of Lucknow, all from Uttar Pradesh; Kota Sri Sundeep of Bhavanipuram and Kota Srinivas, both from Vijayawada.Himanshu Singh, a former media worker and CSC operator, collaborated with cyber fraudsters linked to Chinese handlers. He installed OTP-stealing APK files on victims’ phones, collected SIM cards, and enabled fraudsters to gain direct access to bank OTPs, SMS alerts, and linked email accounts.Ramesh Kumar and Abhishek Pandey provided their bank accounts to facilitate the fraud in return for commissions, involving transactions of over Rs 2 crore. The accused jointly held an ICICI Bank account through which Rs 1.14 crore, including Rs 15 lakh from the victim, was routed in a single day.
