Around 30 – 50 Crore Per Month Duped out of Andhra Pradesh by Cybercriminals
“These days, cybercriminals are making more money out of innocent people who have saved a huge amount of money for their retirement plan or other purposes.”
According to reports, cyber thefts originating from Cambodia and other Southeast Asian nations are costing residents of areas of Andhra Pradesh at least Rs 30 to Rs 50 crore per month.
According to investigations, there are three main categories of cybercrime frauds that are common and all originate in Southeast Asia: task-based scams, digital arrest schemes, and stock trading and investment scams.
The recovery rate in these financial cybercrime cases is still quite low, according to authorities. Trafficked individuals, including children from Andhra Pradesh, are allegedly made to labor in these frauds, which are commonly conducted from high-security areas purportedly overseen by Chinese operatives.
What happened?
| 1. A 40-year-old Vizag City private employee was defrauded of more than Rs one crore in one instance after clicking on a smartphone link that promised remarkable share trading profits of 150–200 percent.
2. He was then joined to WhatsApp and Telegram groups, where administrators displayed statistics and charts showing large profits and permitted small withdrawals to gain the victim’s trust. 3. The victim discovered that all communication abruptly ended and the scammers vanished after investing a total of Rs one crore. 4. In the cities of Vizag and Vijayawada, as well as a few smaller towns, at least 1,500 to 2,000 victims of cybercrimes visit cybercrime police stations each month. |
For fear of embarrassment, victims occasionally choose not to even report the incident to the police. People in the state, including well-known employees and tech-savvy individuals, are estimated to have lost at least Rs 30 crore every month for the previous six months.
K. Bhavani Prasad, Inspector, Cybercrime Police Station
| People become victims of financial scams largely as a result of:
a) Insufficient research, b) Excessive reliance on information from social media, c) Failure to properly verify data with authoritative sources, and d) A strong desire for swift financial returns. These scams involve digital arrests, task games, stock market frauds, and one type of phishing. Despite police awareness campaigns, prominent individuals are being victims of financial scams, and older persons are becoming victims of digital fraud.
Compared to robberies and burglaries, financial cybercrimes have increased recently, mostly due to people’s greed. |
Senior Police Officer
| After allegedly being detained against their will and coerced into committing cyber fraud, over a hundred children from various regions of Andhra Pradesh were thought to be stranded in Cambodia. |
For cybercrimes, the Andhra Pradesh agents transport individuals to Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia after hiring them under the pretense of data operator work abroad. A “digital arrest scam” cost a retired government employee in the Anakapalle area Rs 1.4 crore.
Under the guise of a digital arrest connected to a fictitious money laundering case, the scammers defrauded the 80-year-old retired employee of Rs 1.4 crore while posing as CBI investigators.
By posing as law enforcement or regulatory (CBI, ED, and Customs) officers, the cybercriminals use threats and intimidation techniques to coerce their victims—who are primarily elderly—into sending money or divulging personal information.
They mistakenly claim that the people are involved in criminal activity. This tactic uses uncertainty and anxiety to its advantage, taking advantage of the victim’s panic to facilitate financial fraud.
Shanka Brata Bagchi, Police Chief, Vizag City
| People fall victim to a variety of cybercrimes primarily due to greed, a desire for quick money, and a lack of knowledge about the online world.
“Scammers are adding victims to various groups with sophisticated-looking trading and investment platforms, and they create fake virtual wallets to give the impression that the victims’ money is safe, before deceiving them,” he said, urging internet users to be wary of links and messages from unknown individuals.
The policeman further underlined that digital arrests had no legal justification. |
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Suraj Koli is a content specialist in technical writing about cybersecurity & information security. He has written many amazing articles related to cybersecurity concepts, with the latest trends in cyber awareness and ethical hacking. Find out more about “Him.”
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