Fake court order sent via email to Hyderabad citizen
As the number of cases rise involving impersonation on phone and video calls, leading to citizens losing crores of rupees, fraudsters have now turned to emails to trick unsuspecting people.
Meanwhile, officials of the Telangana cybercrime police urged citizens not to fall for these tactics.
On Wednesday, a journalist in Hyderabad received an ‘official court order’ from the ‘Cyber Security Agency of Saudi Arabia’ claiming the victim were accessing ‘juvenile pornographic websites’. The email further warned of ‘legal action’ if the victim did not respond within 24 hours.
“By the mandate of Col. Khalid Abdullah, additional director general, ADG headquarter and cyber crime & economic offense department, conducted an analysis of your internet protocol. This analysis revealed that you have been secretly accessing juvenile pornographic websites through your office or home internet,” the email read.
The email claimed that the ministry of home affairs works closely with the special cell of Saudi Arabia police and the department’s advanced digital forensics labs are equipped to detect any access to child pornography websites, recover deleted data, and analyse various devices.
“Fraudsters are adopting new methods to con people. This tactic builds on existing impersonation and digital arrest scams where conmen posing as government officials trap unsuspecting individuals and coerce them into paying their way out of trouble. Once a victim responds, they weave the narrative of serious charges levied against them and leave them with only one option,” explained Chand Basha, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad Cybercrimes.
This comes at a time when the Hyderabad commissionerate reported losses over ₹50 lakh in cheating by impersonation and social media frauds during 2024.
Another official from the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) clarified that the email address itself is fake. Citizens are advised to not respond to such emails. Instead, block or report them immediately, the official added.
The email was sent from ‘police.intelligence.office@nicwebmail.info’ with a fabricated reference number ‘39724-34-01/ICB-IPHQ/2024’. A quick background check of the domain showed that the Internet Protocol (IP) address originated from Friedrichshain in Berlin. It was created on November 28, 2024 and was updated on December 16, 2024.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs’ cyber-safety and cyber security awareness handle flagged concern over a fake letter circulating on social media, claiming to be from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) CEO Rajesh Kumar. The fraudulent letter accused the recipient of engaging in child pornography and paedophilia and was accompanied by an email that mirrored the language used in this recent scam.
Published – December 27, 2024 09:02 am IST
