Hyderabad: The Hyderabad cyber crime police apprehended three persons involved in digital arrest fraud posing as police officers. The accused were involved in 14 cases across the country.

The police arrested Thota Srinivasa Rao (59), an account holder, and account suppliers Lam Jeevan Kumar (38) and Tammishetty Raghuveer (40), all residents of Guntur (AP). They were involved in cases in Delhi, UP, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Goa, Odisha and Telangana. The police seized mobile phones, bank cheque books, passbooks, credit cards, debit cards of various banks, pan cards from them.

According to the police, in November 2024, Veeraboina Sai Raj of Hyderabad received a call claiming to be from Kurla PS, Bandra (Mumbai). He informed that a case has been registered in the court. He mentioned that an account had been opened on September 5, 2024 at ICICI Bank’s Kurla branch.

The caller stated that an illegal transaction amounting to Rs 25 lakh had been made on September 23, 2024. He asked the complainant to connect over a Skype call, during which he appeared in a video call, though Veeraboina could not take a photo.

The caller instructed him to transfer the entire amount into his account for verification purposes to confirm whether he was involved in money laundering or illegal activities. He assured the amount would be refunded to his account within 24 hours; he would also provide a police clearance certificate.

The complainant transferred amounts of Rs 1,99,998 & 1,58,000, a total of Rs 3,57,998 from his bank to fraudster’s account and lost the amount.

The police said to protect oneself from cybercrime and financial fraud refrain from receiving or attending calls from unknown numbers. Remain calm if you receive threatening video calls claiming to be from government agencies,--such as CBI, RBI, ED, Customs--judges, cyber crime police, Narcotics, FedEx, BSNL, Telecom department or TRAI.

Be aware that government agencies and law enforcement officials won’t make Skype calls or demand money to resolve issues. Note that there is no such thing as digital arrest or online enquiry. If you are a victim of cybercrime fraud immediately dial 1930 (or) visit https://cybercrime.gov.in/.