Hyderabad: Cybercrime police facilitate refund of Rs 2.6 lakh to victim

Probe finds significant portion of defrauded amount transferred to a wallet associated with an international crypto currency exchange located in Seychelles, Africa

Hyderabad: The Cyberabad Cybercrime Police facilitated the refund of Rs 2.6 lakh, which was lost by an investor from the city in an online cryptocurrency fraud.

According to the police, the victim was added to a fake WhatsApp group, where he was lured into crypto currency trading using a third-party application. The suspects shared fraudulent links and convinced the victim to transfer a total of Rs 20.3 lakh into various private e-wallets on the pretext of trading contracts and high returns.

On realising that he was cheated, the victim approached the Cybercrime police and lodged a complaint. Based on investigation, the flow of funds was analysed and it was found that a significant portion of the defrauded amount had been transferred to a wallet associated with an international crypto currency exchange located in Seychelles, Africa.

A notice was sent to the exchanger requesting wallet and KYC details. The exchanger responded with the account holder’s information, confirming the available balance of Rs 3.3 lakh in the suspect’s wallet.

Following this, the Cybercrime team approached the court and secured a debit freeze order. Later, the court passed a refund order upon submission of all the relevant documents, directing the exchanger to refund the frozen funds to the victim.

Based on the court’s direction, the exchanger refunded a total of Rs 2.6 lakh to the victim’s wallet.