Fraudsters Use Digital Arrest To Extort Rs 59 Lakh From Senior Citizen, Arrested

Hyderabad: The city cybercrime police on Friday arrested two accused for cheating of a senior citizen of Rs 59 lakh. The accused are identified as Surampudi Chandrasekhar, 31, and Emandi Venkat Naveen, 25, both are the natives of Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.

Hyderabad cybercrime DCP V. Arvind Babu said the victim received WhatsApp calls from unknown persons on December 4, impersonating police and government officials. Fraudsters falsely alleged his involvement in human trafficking, overseas job fraud, and money laundering, and sent forged arrest warrants via WhatsApp to intimidate him.

Under continuous threats of arrest, the victim transferred ₹59,00,300 through RTGS from his account between December 4.and December 6.

"The accused operated an organised “digital arrest” scam by impersonating police and government officials. They used WhatsApp calls and sent forged arrest warrants to create fear forcing victims to transfer money to multiple bank accounts. The accused used malicious APK files to gain access to the victim’s Internet banking and SMS services. They routed funds through shell firm accounts, converted them into cryptocurrency (USDT), and withdrew money via Binance P2P transactions into personal accounts," the DCP said.

The accused are part of an interstate cyber fraud racket. They procured, and shared bank accounts for routing cheated funds. The prime accused have facilitated 15 current accounts so far.

The accused are involved in 65 cyber fraud cases nationwide, including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and other states. The cases registered against the accused by the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, Sangareddy Rural.