₹6.02 crore refunded to 310 cyber fraud victims in Visakhapatnam
The Visakhapatnam City Police Commissionerate on Monday refunded ₹6.02 crore to 310 victims of cyber fraud under Refund Mela 3.0, taking the total amount recovered and returned through the initiative to ₹28.49 crore for 1,550 victims across its three editions.
Andhra Pradesh Home and Disaster Management Minister Vangalapudi Anitha distributed the refund cheques. She said cybercrime had witnessed a sharp rise after the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting the State government to strengthen cyber policing.
Ms. Anitha said Cyber Crime Police Stations were being equipped with advanced investigative tools, while dedicated cybercrime police stations were being established in every district.
She stressed that time is critical in cyber fraud cases and urged the public to report incidents immediately. Prompt reporting, she said, improves the chances of freezing transactions and recovering stolen money.
City Police Commissioner Dr. Shankhabrata Bagchi said timely registration of complaints and close coordination with banks, payment gateways, financial institutions, and courts had enabled the police to trace, freeze, and refund fraudulently transferred funds through the prescribed legal process. He advised the public not to respond to suspicious calls, links, or mobile applications.
Highlighting recent investigation successes, the Commissionerate said it had recovered and refunded ₹65.97 lakh to 39 victims in a fake investment and task-based fraud case, ₹21 lakh in a fraudulent vehicle sale case, and ₹57.24 lakh linked to instant loan app frauds involving cryptocurrency transactions, benefiting 126 victims.
The police also said they had busted an interstate online betting racket, arrested 24 persons, identified around 530 mule bank accounts allegedly used to route transactions exceeding ₹500 crore, and frozen more than ₹2 crore during the investigation.
Appealing to citizens to act without delay, the police urged victims of cyber fraud to report incidents through the national helpline 1930 or the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, noting that prompt reporting substantially improves the chances of freezing fraudulent transactions and recovering the lost money.