Hyderabad: Hyderabad police have helped refund Rs 53 lakh to an octogenarian who lost Rs 2.88 crore to cyber fraudsters.
The victim, who was cheated by cyber fraudsters on the pretext of wrongdoing, received the amount on the court’s order.
City Cybercrime Police had taken up the investigation after a complaint from an 84-year-old man from Hyderabad.
According to Hyderabad Police Commissioner C. V. Anand, the fraudsters posing as CBI officials contacted the complainant through a WhatsApp video call. They claimed that he was involved in Rs 68 crore financial fraud and threatened to send him to jail.
Frightened by this, the victim, on the instructions of fraudsters, transferred Rs 2.88 crore to the bank accounts they gave.
The Cyber Crime Police registered a case under Sections 66 (C) and 66 (D) of the IT Act and 308 (2), 318 (4), 319 (2), 336 (3), 338, and 340 (2) of BNS and investigated the case.
The police officials sent notices to the bank officials, followed up with them to freeze the fraudulent amount, and guided the complainant to file a petition in court for the refund of the amount held in the fraudulent accounts to the complainant’s bank account.
The Police Commissioner said that due to the sincere efforts of staff, the court issued orders to the banks to refund the amount. The court directed Axis Bank, Surat, to refund Rs 53 lakh and State Bank of India Kerala to refund Rs 50 lakh.
On regular follow-up with the bank officials, the Police Commissioner said Rs 53 lakh had been transferred to the complainant’s account today.
He cautioned people not to fear threatening calls that they will be arrested. Police will not make such calls, and people must remember that only fraudsters make such calls.
He urged people not to send money to such fraudsters, block such calls, and lodge an online complaint immediately on the helpline number 1930 or through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal cybercrime.gov.in.
People have been requested to follow Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police Station’s social media handles regularly to get time-to-time awareness about such cyber frauds. There is a possibility of getting a refund of at least part of the lost amount and a ‘put on hold’ amount if the fraud is reported immediately.
–IANS
