Rs 1 crore recovered in 10 days after WhatsApp impersonation fraud in Cyberabad

Cyberabad Cybercrime Police arrested a 37-year-old Uttar Pradesh man in a Rs 1 crore fraud involving a forged WhatsApp profile. Police said the amount was routed through a suspected mule account and was secured and restored to the victim within 10 days.

Hyderabad: The Cyberabad Cybercrime Police arrested a man from Uttar Pradesh in connection with a Rs 1 crore cyber fraud case involving impersonation through a forged WhatsApp profile.

The suspect, Deepak Kumar (37), from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, who runs a water plant business, allegedly used a fake WhatsApp profile to impersonate the proprietor of a saree retail outlet.

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According to the police, on August 4, the outlet’s accountant from the city received a financial request through the forged profile and transferred Rs 1 crore from the complainant’s bank account to the bank account shared by the fraudster.

During the investigation, police found that the money was routed through a corporate current account held in the name of Royal Moda Pvt Ltd, allegedly being used as a mule account for routing fraudulent funds.

Police traced Deepak Kumar to Lucknow and arrested him on August 8. After obtaining transit remand from a court in Lucknow, he was brought to Cyberabad and produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody.

Following swift police action and intervention by the court, appropriate orders were passed within a day to secure and restore the defrauded amount. As a result, the entire Rs 1 crore was secured and restored to the victim on August 14, within 10 days of the fraud, following due legal process.

Further analysis through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal revealed links between the accused’s bank account and cybercrime cases registered in other States.

Police are continuing the investigation to identify other accused persons, establish their roles and trace the complete money trail.

Police Advisory:

*Verify all high-value financial requests through another communication channel and do not rely solely on WhatsApp profile pictures or display names

*Avoid installing unknown APK files or applications received through messaging platforms

*In case of cyber fraud, citizens should immediately call 1930 or report the incident through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal