The cybercrime wing of the Malkajgiri police has apprehended five individuals linked to various cyber fraud schemes,revealing connections to extensive criminal networks spanning multiple states. arrests occurred in the week ending May 30,with those detained identified as Yakub Ibrahim Khan from Mumbai,Maharashtra; Orsu Sreenivasu from Suryapet district, Telangana; Gunda Nagaraju and Pilli Aditya,both from Hyderabad; and Pagadala Krishna Chaitanya from NTR district, Andhra Pradesh.
These suspects acted as mule account holders, facilitating transactions for cybercriminals engaged in investment scams,job frauds,customer care fraud,and a so-called digital arrest scam. In one notable investment fraud, a victim lost over ₹1.54 crore after being lured into a fraudulent trading application through a WhatsApp stock market group. The victim was misled into believing they were making profits, which led to further investments .
Another victim fell prey to a similar scheme,investing through fake trading platform after joining a WhatsApp group, resulting in loss exceeding ₹80 lakh. In a separate incident,a Hyderabad resident was defrauded of ₹2.67 lakh through a bogus overseas employment offer. The perpetrators, posing as recruiters, collected money under guise of processing fees and other charges.
Additionally,the police reported a case of customer care fraud where the accused impersonated representatives from online service platforms. They deceived a victim into believing that refunds were pending in a digital wallet,leading to a loss of nearly ₹2 lakh. In a more alarming case,one suspect was arrested for involvement in a ‘digital arrest’ scam, where fraudsters posed as law enforcement officials. They coerced a victim into transferring ₹71.25 lakh by threatening them with fabricated criminal case.
All five suspects have been remanded to judicial custody . Investigators continue to pursue leads to identify other members of the fraud networks. During the same week, police successfully processed court-approved refunds totaling ₹50.31 lakh, returning funds to victims of cybercrime.
