Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police arrested a 46-year-old woman for her involvement in a large-scale digital arrest fraud.
The accused, Krothapalli Rithika, a real estate businesswoman from Kompally, Hyderabad, was linked to 32 similar fraud cases across India, including three in Telangana.
The case came to light when a Hyderabad resident received a call from a person posing as head constable from Kurla Police Station, Bandra, Mumbai. The fraudster informed the victim that a case had been registered against him. He further alleged that an ICICI Bank account had been opened in the victim’s name at the Bandra-Kurla branch in Mumbai and was used for illegal transactions. The victim was then asked to join a Skype call, where he was coerced into transferring his entire bank balance to a specified account for verification, supposedly to confirm that he was not involved in money laundering or other illegal activities. The fraudster assured him that the money would be returned within 24 hours along with a police clearance certificate.
Despite not having the required amount in his bank account, the victim was persuaded to take a pre-approved loan from ICICI Bank. He then transferred ₹3,57,998 to the fraudster’s account.
Following an investigation, Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police arrested three individuals from Andhra Pradesh – Thota Srinivasa Rao, aged 58, Jeevan Kumar, aged 38, and T. Raghuveer, aged 40 – on March 25.
They were remanded into judicial custody.
Krothapalli Rithika was arrested on March 29 and was also remanded.
The police recovered multiple items during the operation, including mobile phones, cheque books from different banks, passbooks, cheque leaves, stamps, a QR code scanner, ATM cards, and SIM cards.
The fraudsters chose victims through social media platforms, Telegram, WhatsApp, and internet calls. They posed as officials from agencies such as the Telecom Department, TRAI, CBI, CID, and Cyber Crime units. Victims were falsely accused of crimes such as money laundering, human trafficking, and terrorism. Under the pretext of a digital arrest, the scammers pressured victims into transferring funds for inspection, claiming that the Reserve Bank of India and the Supreme Court had authorised the procedure. Once the victims transferred the money, the fraudsters cut all contact.
Published – March 31, 2025 08:04 pm IST
