Cyberabad police, banks join hands against rising cyber frauds

Cyberabad Police held a meeting with banks to strengthen cybercrime investigation cooperation. Commissioner Avinash Mohanty highlighted rising fraud losses surpassing traditional crimes. Banks were directed to improve KYC checks, freeze handling, and faster victim support.

Hyderabad: The Cyberabad police on Friday held a coordination meeting with representatives of various banks to streamline cooperation in cybercrime investigations and ensure quicker response to victim complaints.

Police Commissioner Avinash Mohanty said cyber fraud has become one of the region’s most serious challenges, with victims losing their life savings to online scams, fake investments, and digital frauds.

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The financial damage caused by cybercrime, he noted, now exceeds losses from traditional offences like robbery. He urged banks, especially major institutions, to establish centralised cyber cells for faster complaint handling and quicker fund recovery.

Officials pointed out delays from banks in providing account statements, KYC documents, freeze confirmations and defreeze responses. Banks were reminded that frozen accounts must not allow debit transactions and that any activity should be reported immediately.

Banks were further instructed to furnish complete account statements in Excel format, ensure accurate beneficiary details, improve handling of multiple freeze orders, strengthen KYC checks, and actively identify mule accounts.