Hyderabad Cybercrime Police Nab 35 across 9 States, Refund Rs.88.48 Lakh to Victims

Among the arrested, nine were caught related to social media offence while seven in investment fraud, six in digital arrest, five in trading fraud, two in identity theft, three in advertisement fraud, one each in extortion, job fraud and customer care.

Of the 35 arrested persons, 10 were from Telangana, six from Maharashtra, nine from Andhra Pradesh, three each from Kerala and Uttar Pradesh and one each from Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab. The police seized 10 mobile phones, seven cheque books and a stamp of a shell company.

In September, the cybercrime police received multiple NCRP complaints, out of which 83 FIRs were registered. The zonal cyber cells received 2767 NCRP petitions, of which 381 FIRs were registered, and 11 individuals were arrested in 10 cases, with Rs.67,54,049 amount refunded to victims.

During September, through continuous digital monitoring and intelligence-based tracking, the cybercrime unit identified 140 social media profiles across Facebook and Instagram that were actively operating and running 30 paid advertisements promoting videos involving minors using abusive, vulgar, obscene, or inappropriate language for gaining views and likes.

Followers, subscribers, and monetization, as well as fraudulent schemes relating to old and rare coins, Rs.5 tractor-design currency notes, Rs.786 serial-number currency notes, misleading betting predictions, and guaranteed winnings were also monitored.

Further, suspicious advertisements offering matrimonial and marriage arrangements, private video-call services, and fraudulent job and employment opportunities were also identified, wherein users may be induced to make advance payments or disclose personal, financial, or identity-related information.

Such activities have the potential to exploit children, mislead the public, cause financial loss, facilitate cheating, blackmail, impersonation, identity theft, and other cyber-enabled offences, besides adversely affecting public safety and social values, the police said.

Identified content, profiles, pages, links, and advertisements are promptly reported to the respective social media platforms for necessary action, with the objective of preventing cybercrime, protecting children and citizens from online exploitation and financial fraud, and promoting a safer digital environment.

As a precautionary and preventive measure, all the 140 identified profiles have been reported to the platform concerned and have been taken down to prevent further dissemination of such unlawful and misleading content.

As part of the ongoing cyber patrol initiatives, a cumulative total of 1457 social media profiles and 2603 paid promotional advertisements have been identified and taken down for promoting online gaming, illegal betting, and fake investment websites targeting users in India and nine FIRs have been registered against the promoters.

The C-Mitra initiative carried out significant victim-assistance activities. A total of 1928 calls were made to victims to provide guidance and support, 307 zero FIRs were registered based on the complaints received, reflecting the continued efforts to ensure timely assistance and prompt legal action in cybercrime cases, according M. Srinivasulu, Additional Commissioner of Police, Crimes & SIT.