Scammers Posing as Nagpur Cyber Police, Steal Lakhs from Victims

Scammers have escalated their tactics by impersonating the Nagpur Cyber Police in a sophisticated scheme to defraud individuals. These criminals create fake email addresses that closely resemble legitimate ones used by the cyber police, allowing them to deceive banks into freezing victims’ accounts. Once the accounts are frozen, the scammers reach out to the victims, demanding payment to unfreeze their accounts, ultimately siphoning off significant sums of money.

The scam was exposed by Sweta Kuma Trilochan Panigrahi, an assistant manager at ICICI Bank. Panigrahi received an email from an address that appeared strikingly similar to a real cyber police email ID: cyberpolice-nagpur@maharashtrapolice.in. Sensing something amiss, Panigrahi conducted an investigation that confirmed the email was indeed fraudulent. Acting swiftly, she alerted the Nagpur Cyber Police.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Nimit Goyal confirmed this as a new form of fraud. Following the report, authorities launched an investigation that culminated in the arrest of two suspects: Pradum Anil Singh (26) from Malad East, Mumbai, and Shubham Pitambar Sahu (32) from Mulund West, Mumbai. Both men are currently in police custody until August 14.

During interrogation, the duo admitted to targeting 176 accounts across six banks, including SBI, HDFC, and Bank of Baroda. The police are now working to determine how many more individuals may have fallen victim to this scheme.

DCP Goyal cautioned that cyber scams are becoming increasingly inventive and urged the public to remain vigilant. Authorities are also investigating how the scammers obtained victims’ banking information, with suspicions that bank insiders may have facilitated the fraud. The police have since frozen the scammers’ accounts and managed to return the stolen funds to victims, although the source of the leaked banking data remains under investigation.