Cyber Sleuths Recover and Refund Rs 3.5 Lakh to Three Victims

Hyderabad:In three separate cybercrime cases, Hyderabad sleuths refunded ₹3.5 lakh to victims of credit card fraud and central government scheme fraud.

In the first case, a businessman was approached by fake SBI credit card services. The caller informed that he was eligible for a credit card and the victim provided him with sensitive information leading to fraudulent transactions from his bank account. Upon informing 1930, the payment gateway was identified. They sent an immediate request to block further transactions on the account, which was duly blocked. The victim was refunded ₹1,71,800, thanks to the alert decisions taken by the officials.

The other two cases pertained to a central government scheme fraud and a credit card fraud. In both instances the modus operandi was the APK file. A victim was approached by someone on granting the PM Kisan scheme. He tricked the victim into downloading the APK file leading to compromising of his mobile phone. Though the victim started receiving messages containing OTPs, with the conmen having access to his phone read the OTP and used it for fraudulent transactions. The police later refunded an amount of ₹97,998 to the victim.

In the third case, an individual was approached by fake HDFC credit card service ‘officials’ who persuaded him to download the APK file leading to the amount deduction by the conmen. Though an amount of ₹90,200 was deducted from the victim's account, he was refunded ₹59,998.

Police authorities are emphasizing on the importance of 'golden hour' to report of cyber attacks and calling the toll-free number 1930.