Hyderabad: Cybercrime Police of Hyderabad arrested 49 individuals from 15 states during July in connection with 25 cybercrime cases.
It successfully refunded Rs 98,89,202 to the victims during the month.
Cybercrime Police Station received multiple complaints on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), out of which 70 FIRs were registered, police said in a statement on Friday.
The nature of cases for the 49 arrested individuals includes trading fraud (29 accused), social media (5), digital arrest (3), WhatsApp DP fraud (3), matrimonial fraud (2), and one accused each for APK fraud, crypto trading impersonation, investment fraud, job fraud, POCSO, and purchasing old coins.
The state-wise breakdown of arrests consists of Telangana (13), Maharashtra (7), Rajasthan (6), West Bengal (5), Uttar Pradesh (4), Bihar (3), Delhi (2), Haryana (2), Jharkhand (2), Andhra Pradesh (1), Karnataka (1), Odisha (1), Punjab (1) and Uttarakhand (1).
During these operations, Cybercrime police seized 25 debit cards, 23 mobiles, 9 cheque books, 7 passbooks, 5 rubber stamps, 3 laptops, 2 PAN cards, 2 rental agreements, 1 United Arab Emirates resident identity card, 1 credit card and 1 passport.
In terms of financial losses and refund details across major case categories, trading fraud (25 cases) accounted for Rs 11,75,83,416 lost and Rs 58,23,217 refunded. APK fraud (3 cases) accounted for Rs 13,19,218 lost and Rs 8,75,386 refunded. Investment fraud (3 cases) accounted for Rs 1,50,79,585 lost and Rs 12,78,136 refunded.
Concurrently, Zonal Cyber Cells received 2,059 NCRP petitions, registered 298 FIRs, arrested 6 individuals across 5 cases and refunded Rs 27,09,320 to victims.
Under Cyber Patrol Enforcement, officers identified 128 social media profiles across Facebook and Instagram running 36 paid advertisements promoting online child exploitation, multilevel marketing and fake investment websites targeting Indian users. These profiles used promotional content, referral links and deepfake videos of well-known personalities. All 128 profiles were taken down, and one FIR was registered against a promoter.
Cumulative cyber patrol efforts have resulted in 1,086 social media profiles and 2,553 paid promotional advertisements taken down, with 9 FIRs registered against promoters. Under the C-Mitra initiative, 1,537 calls were made to victims for guidance, and 231 Zero FIRs were registered.
An important detected case involved trading fraud where fraudsters compromised the WhatsApp communication of Bhoomi Bio Products Pvt. Ltd. using the representative’s profile picture and induced the Accounts Team to transfer Rs 25 lakh via RTGS to AKK Contractors at IndusInd Bank.
Upon NCRP complaint, police arrested the accused, Abhinandan Kumar Kamat, accountant, resident of Gurugram, Haryana.
(IANS)
