4,544 cyber fraud cases logged in 2020 across Telangana

HYDERABAD: Most victims of cyber crime were duped through fake customer care, e-classified frauds, one time password (OTP) fraud, investment and matrimony and sextortion crimes apart from data breach at institutions. In 2020, 4,544 cyber crime cases were registered across Telangana.
When V Sandeep (name changed) opened an unsolicited mail in his email box, to his shock he found his email ID and password in it. The sender informed that he had hacked Sandeep’s computer and, through webcam, found out that he was watching porn and his voyeuristic behaviour would be put on the web if he did not pay up.

Police, during the investigation, found that user data was accessed from unknown institutions and put up for sale on the darknet. It is from the darknet, fraudsters buy the data and send extortion mails. Fearing their reputation, some persons paid money, while many ignored such threats and lodged police complaints.
“In most cases, some rouge employees will clandestinely sell data. This is the only possibility for breach of data from any company. Once the data is put up on the darknet for sale, it is difficult to trace the origin,’’ Hyderabad assistant commissioner of police (Cyber Crime) KVM Prasad.
Officials said that due to data breach, sensitive documents of persons submitted to various organisations might appear in public domain.
Most cyber crime cases registered in the last few years have been with regard to cheating, abuse of social media by accused with an intention to target specific users.
However, a new trend was witnessed during Covid-19 second wave when there was scarcity of oxygen cylinders, hospital beds and medicines. Cyber fraudsters had duped many people by issuing fake advertisements on social media. Since the families were in a desperate situation to arrange oxygen and medicines for their kin, they relied on unverified messages and fell in the trap of the fraudsters.
In many cases, Telangana police arrested fraudsters from Bengaluru, Delhi, North-East and other areas of the country.