Hyderabad octogenarian loses Rs 2.88 crore to cyber fraudsters, gets Rs 53 lakh back

Hyderabad police have helped in refunding Rs 53 lakh to an octogenarian, who lost Rs 2.88 crore to cyber fraudsters.

The victim, who was cheated by cyber fraudsters on the pretext of wrongdoing, received the amount on the court’s order.

City Cybercrime Police had taken up the investigation after a complaint from an 84-year-old man from Hyderabad.

According to Hyderabad Police Commissioner C. V. Anand, the fraudsters contacted the complainant through a WhatsApp video call, posing as CBI officials. They claimed that he was involved in Rs 68 crore financial fraud and threatened to send him to jail.

Frightened over this, the victim on the instructions of fraudsters transferred Rs 2.88 crore to the bank accounts given by them.

The Cyber Crime Police registered a case under Sections 66(C), 66(D) of the IT Act, and 308(2), 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), 338, 340(2) of BNS, and investigated the case. The police officials sent notices to the bank officials, followed up with them to freeze the fraudulent amount, and guided the complainant to file a petition in court for the refund of the amount held in the fraudulent accounts to the complainant’s bank account.

The Police Commissioner said due to the sincere efforts of staff, the court issued orders to the banks for a refund of the amount. The court directed Axis Bank, Surat to refund Rs 53 lakh and State Bank of India Kerala to refund Rs 50 lakh.

On regular follow-up with the bank officials, Rs 53 lakh was transferred today to the complainant’s account, the Police Commissioner said. He cautioned people not to be afraid of threatening calls that they will be arrested. Police will not make such calls and people have to keep in mind that it is only fraudsters who make such calls. Never send money to such fraudsters, block such calls, and lodge an online complaint immediately on the helpline number 1930 or through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal cybercrime.gov.in, he urged people.

People have been requested to follow Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police Station's social media handles regularly to get time-to-time awareness about such cyber frauds. There is a possibility to get a refund of at least part of the lost amount and a ‘put on hold’ amount, if the fraud is reported immediately.