Hyderabad: Cyber Crime Police block 3 fraudulent transactions; retrieve Rs 3.60L

Hyderabad: Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police successfully retrieved Rs 3,59,998 of three cyber fraud victims without a court order.

Case details

In the first case, the businessman from Hyderabad received a call from the number 9711631236, claiming to be from SBI Credit Card Services.

The caller informed the victim that a new card had been issued in his name and requested his credit card details for confirmation. The victim shared the details, resulting in a fraudulent transaction and loss of funds from his SBI credit card.

A notice was immediately sent to the identified payment gateway on the same day, requesting to stop fraudulent transactions. Upon follow-up, the gateway refunded Rs 1,71,800 to the victim’s SBI credit card.

In the second case, a private employee from Hyderabad received a link via WhatsApp for a PM Kisan APK file. He clicked on the link and installed the file, after which his phone was compromised. As a result, SMS messages were automatically forwarded to fraudsters, leading to unauthorized transactions.

The amount was debited from the victim's ICICI credit card. The malware was identified and successfully removed from the victim’s mobile device. A notice was immediately sent to the merchant, Amazon, on the same day, requesting to stop the fraudulent transaction. Upon follow-up, the merchant refunded Rs 97,998 to the victim’s SBI credit card.

In the third case, a Hyderabad self-employed man received a WhatsApp call from someone posing as an HDFC Bank employee regarding increasing their credit card limit. The scammer sent a link titled "HDFC Card Limit Increase" and instructed the victim to fill in their details.

Upon opening the link and installing an APK file, the victim's mobile phone was compromised. Within an hour, an amount of Rs 90,200 was fraudulently debited from the victim's credit card. The malware was identified and removed from the victim’s mobile device. The amount was refunded to the victim’s credit card via PhonePe before it could be settled to the beneficiary.

Public Advisory

Cyber Crime Police appealed to people not to install any Apk files that are forwarded or sent through WhatsApp as the fraudsters will steal data by compromising devices never responding to emails and embed APK file links in messages and calls asking you to update or verify KYC documents pending.

Here are the guidelines to be followed by the public:

Never share User ID/Password/Debit Card Number/PIN/CVV/OTP etc.

Immediately change your credentials. Bank officials, financial institutions, RBI, and any genuine entity never ask customers to share confidential information.

Never share these confidential details with anyone, even your family members, and friends.

However, if you have any genuine doubt about the safety of your interests, it is advisable to physically visit your bank/finance institution.

There is a possibility to get a refund of at least part of the lost and PUT ON HOLD amount if it is reported immediately.

Victims of such Cyber frauds can report immediately 1930 or cyber crime website.