Cyber Crooks Cheat 2 People Of Rs 90 L

Hyderabad:Cyber fraudsters have duped two Hyderabad residents of nearly Rs 90 lakh in separate scams — one involving a fake job offer and another through impersonation of government officials.

In the first case, a 21-year-old resident of Chandrayangutta was cheated of `8.18 lakh in a fake “Google Online Auditor” recruitment scheme. On September 9, the victim received a WhatsApp message from a woman identifying herself as Divya Mehta, a recruitment manager at a reputed IT company.

Police said she offered daily earnings of Rs 3,000–Rs 5,000. For a demo, the victim was asked to give a five-star rating to a restaurant on Google Maps and was paid `150, making the job seem genuine. Encouraged, the victim transferred `1,000 and received `1,410 in return. The fraudsters later claimed that funds had been frozen due to an error and demanded more deposits. The victim made multiple transfers, eventually losing `8.18 lakh. When asked to pay another `3 lakh to release a supposedly frozen sum of `11.95 lakh, he realised it was a scam and approached the cyber crime police.

In the second case, an 83-year-old retired bank employee from Habsiguda lost `80.64 lakh in a so-called “digital arrest” scam. Cyber criminals impersonated officials of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and police, claiming the victim’s Aadhaar was linked to human trafficking rackets in Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines.

The fraudsters bolstered their claims by sending a tampered bank ATM card and a fake Supreme Court notice naming the victim as an accused. Shocked and panicked by the allegations, the senior citizen transferred large sums under pressure. He later realised it was an elaborate con by scammers posing as government and legal authorities. Police have taken up both cases and warned citizens against job frauds, digital arrest scams and calls impersonating government officials.