Hyderabad: Cop Saves Rs 1.05 Cr of Cybercrime Victim Hours After Plaint

 Hyderabad: In what was like a Diwali bonus, a 50-year-old man’s months of agony ended on a delightful note when he was able to recover Rs 1.05 crore that he had lost in an investment fraud, thanks to swift action by the investigating officer.

Madhusudhan Rao from the central crime station (CCS) of the Hyderabad commissionerate froze the account within hours of the scam being reported and got a refund for the victim within four months of getting scammed.

Around 11.30am on August 8, the victim informed Rao that he had lost Rs 1.05 crore in a gradual investment fraud that offered him double the returns. He had come across Lazardoosvip Top, a fake company, through a Facebook advertisement. After being added and being able to withdraw a small amount, the company gained the victim’s trust.

Upon realising that he had become a victim of a fraud, he reached out to Rao, who did not waste a single minute and pronto reached out to banks that had accepted the money.

“By 4pm in the evening, I had alerted all the three banks with a formal notice where the amount was transferred and immediately, the money was frozen by all of them. I breathed a sigh of relief after knowing that the amount was now safe,” said the cop.

Usually, though the money lost to cybercrime frauds are frozen immediately after being alerted, it takes too long to get the refund. But Rao, who was genuinely concerned in this case and wanted to make sure that the victim gets his money back, took the next step forward.

“The next day, I acquired bank statements and KYC documents that clearly justified transactions made, including the current balance in bank accounts. On August 10, we filed a requisition petition, asking for a refund, at the Nampally court. A week after all the evidence was verified by the court, it ordered a refund,” Rao told Deccan Chronicle.

“While verifying the documents, the courts need to see the said amount’s transaction. For example, if the money lost is Rs 10 lakh, but there is Rs 70 lakh in the scamster’s account, we only get Rs 10 lakh refunded, for which there has to be a transaction proof,” he said.

To the victim’s joy, the first share of the amount - Rs 80 lakh was refunded on October 12, and the next transfer came as a Diwali bonus on November 1.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, the victim said, “The ill-fated journey started in May. I first started investing smaller amounts, and it seemed just fine. By July, however, they started refusing to give returns as promised and I realised I had lost Rs 1.05 crore. Actually I had asked a few people also before investing because it was a FB link. Many people said that it was legit as they had just started investing.”

However, on getting his money back, the victim said, “I will forever be thankful to the Hyderabad CCS team and Madusudhan Rao especially for their tireless efforts to recover my money. I would suggest everyone to report as soon as they lose money. It is a time-consuming process but totally worth it.”

GFX (Timeline):

August 8 - Complaint lodged

August 9 - Bank statements acquired

August 10 - Petition asking for refund filed at Nampally court

A week later - Court orders refund

October 12 - First part of the refund received

November 1 - Second part of the refund received