GAWAH Cyber Fraud Series | Part 2
Hyderabad, October 23, 2026 | GAWAH News Desk
Residents within the Hyderabad City Police Commissionerate limits reportedly lost ₹17.34 crore to cyber fraud during September 2026, while police registered 464 cybercrime cases, according to figures reported by The New Indian Express. The figures offer a wider view of the problem behind the recent report of a Hyderabad-based non-banking financial company allegedly losing more than ₹3.3 crore in an 87-minute cyberattack.
The September figures show why cyber fraud is not just a technology issue: it affects household savings, retirement funds and businesses, and victims may face a long process to trace transfers and seek recovery.
What the September figures show
According to reporting published on October 11, Hyderabad residents lost ₹17.34 crore across 464 cases registered within the city commissionerate’s limits during September. Police said 83 cases were registered at the Hyderabad City Cyber Crime Police Station, while the remaining cases were handled by zonal cyber cells.
In a separate set of 23 cases, police arrested 35 people across nine states. Police also reported that ₹88.48 lakh had been refunded to victims in the cases covered by the refund announcement. These figures describe different categories of police activity and should not be interpreted as a single one-to-one breakdown of all 464 cases.
Sources: The New Indian Express; Siasat.
Fraud is not one scam
Recent Hyderabad police updates have cited multiple methods, including investment and trading fraud, digital-arrest scams, OTP fraud, identity theft, fake customer-care support and misleading social-media advertisements. The method varies, but many schemes rely on urgency, trust, impersonation or promises of unusually high returns.
In investment scams, victims may be directed to fake trading platforms or groups that display fabricated profits. In digital-arrest scams, fraudsters impersonate law-enforcement or government officials and threaten victims with arrest unless money is transferred. In OTP or customer-care fraud, attackers may try to obtain credentials or persuade victims to approve transactions.
These are general descriptions of reported scam types, not a claim that every September case involved these methods.
Why the first response matters
When a person discovers an unauthorised transfer, the immediate priorities are to contact the bank or payment provider, report the incident quickly, preserve transaction IDs and messages, and avoid paying anyone who promises guaranteed recovery. In India, victims can call 1930 and submit a report through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
Prompt reporting may give authorities and banks an opportunity to trace or freeze funds, but it does not guarantee recovery. Victims should keep the complaint acknowledgement and bank reference numbers for follow-up.
What the numbers cannot tell us
A monthly total is useful, but it does not show how risk varies by age, neighbourhood, scam type or method of payment. Nor does it reveal how many complaints were resolved, how much money was ultimately recovered across all cases, or whether the number of incidents is rising or falling over a longer period.
To answer those questions, GAWAH will examine specific fraud methods, the people most frequently targeted, and the steps victims can take immediately after discovering a scam.
This is Part 2 of GAWAH’s five-part series on cyber fraud in Hyderabad and Telangana. Figures are attributed to the cited reports; GAWAH has not independently audited police records.
Official reporting: National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal | Helpline: 1930.
