Hyderabad: The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) facilitated the refund of Rs 85.05 crore to victims of cyber fraud from March to July across the state, according to bureau director and additional DGP Shikha Goel. This was possible due to the TGCSB’s collaboration with and Telangana Legal Services Authority (TGLSA).
The collaboration focused on addressing the challenges faced by station house officers (SHOs) in registering first information reports (FIRs) through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP).
A critical issue tackled was the extended holding of fraudulent funds in banks without returning them to victims. To address this, a standard operating procedure (SOP) for filing petitions under Section 457 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was developed in February and implemented statewide.
The CSB emphasised the importance of immediate action when reporting cyber fraud, particularly during the "golden hour" – the moment the fraud is realised or suspected. Prompt reporting significantly increased the chances of freezing the fraudulent amount in the accused’s bank accounts and digital wallets, thus facilitating potential refunds to the victims.
Citizens were asked to report incidents promptly by calling 1930 or visiting the cybercrime.gov.in portal.
Since then, a total of 6,840 petitions were submitted to the courts and refund orders granted for 6,449 cases, amounting to a total of Rs 85.05 crore. Of this, Rs 36.8 crore has been refunded in the Cyberabad commissionerate, marking it as the top unit in terms of refunds processed.
