Hyderabad Cyber-Crime Updates:
HYDERABAD: The notorious cybercrime hotspots of Jamtara (Jharkhand) and Bharatpur (Rajasthan) are no longer the sole domain of fraudsters from far-off regions. Rural Telangana gangs have gradually woven their way into this virtual web of criminality.
The Siddipet police have detained three such gangs from Telangana’s hinterland in less than a month after they defrauded more than 20,000 individuals from the two Telugu states and made close to $30 lakh.
In two villages in the Doultabad mandal of the district on Wednesday, Begumpet police of the Siddipet commissionerate busted two gangs and detained eight suspects, the majority of whom were students, for defrauding thousands of men from Telangana and AP by promising nude videos, photos, and sex chat using fictitious profiles of women on social media.
Two degree students, a graduate-turned-farmer, a private tour operator, and three other degree students made up one of the two gangs, which was led by a mobile phone shop employee and two degree students. Police reported that both groups had been active for almost three years.
“The defendants constructed phony female profiles on the ShareChat app. They used to beg for money to exchange pornographic images and videos after befriending the men. In addition, they used to engage in sex chat for profit. Once they had money, they used to block incoming calls. These two gangs took minor payments from the victims, ranging from $500 to $1,000. We believe that more than 19,000 people from various areas of life contributed more than $22 lakh to the two gangs, according to Gajwel ACP Ramesh.
Prior to this, on June 20, Begumpet police in Siddipet detained a two-person gang that had defrauded more than 5,000 people out of $9 lakh. By threatening to publish their sex chats and nude video screen recordings, the pair coerced money from the victims. They used to pose as police and intimidate the victims. According to authorities, one of them was a driver and the other was a college dropout.
“We have taken 11 mobile phones, 19 SIM cards, seven bank passbooks, and seven debit cards from the two groups that were detained on Wednesday. The money was used for personal expenses. One of the defendants bought a bike for $25,000.00. In the accused’s cell phones, we discovered 7,000 numbers that had been banned. One of the criminals, who works at a cell phone store, has been obtaining SIM cards by using stolen client information, according to Begumpet SI P Arun.
On Wednesday, the eight suspects appeared in court and were placed in judicial remand.
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