Hyderabad: Cyber frauds surge, despite awareness drives

The cyber fraudsters also recruit Telugu-speaking people to target gullible people rural areas of the State

Hyderabad: Cyber fraudsters continue to strike even as the Telangana police intensified cybercrime awareness campaigns and efforts to book the fraudsters.

Around 70084 complaints were received by the Telangana police across the State and the investigation is going on under the supervision of the Cyber Security Bureau. The police across the State had registered 10,109 First Information Reports following complaints of the victims of cyber frauds.

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A majority of the cyber fraud cases pertain to investment fraud and trading fraud followed by FEDEX fraud. An amount of Rs 142,71,65,810 was saved by the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau after contacting various banks after complaints were received promptly from the victims of cyber frauds.

A total amount of Rs 85,05,45,646 was refunded to 6449 victims of cyber fraud so far this year,” said TGSCB Superintendent of Police, Devender Singh.

Rural areas

A good percentage of Cyber fraud cases are reported from rural areas of the State where e-fraud cases are increasing drastically. The scammers have also recruited Telugu-speaking people to target those in rural areas of the State.

According to the officials, between January and June, roughly 35 per cent cases were reported from 26 districts including Medak, Sangareddy, Adilabad, Ramagundam, Nirmal, Karimnagar, Siddipet, Jagtial, Sangareddy, Nizamabad etc.

Rs 10 crores a day

The frauds include business and investment fraud, identity theft, impersonation, loan scams, and job or advertisement fraud. According to figures, the State is losing nearly Rs 10 crore a day to cyber criminals.

The police cautioned the people not to believe tradebased investment offers on social media platforms like Telegram, Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook, and other sources. It warned them against investing in unauthorised websites or through any other means as they lure victims for huge amounts on the pretext of trading cum investments