Archive · 27 Aug 2026
Hyderabad Police Warn of Hybrid Fraud Targeting Mobile Users
Hyderabad Police are warning about a scam that begins with stealing someone’s phone.
Criminals may watch people type their phone passwords in crowded places.
They can also pretend to be bus workers and ask for the password when the owner calls the missing phone.
After unlocking the phone, they look for card pictures, identity documents and banking information.
The stolen SIM card can receive codes needed to enter banking and payment apps.
This may let criminals move money from the victim’s accounts quickly.
Police say the money is passed through wallets, gaming platforms and other people’s bank accounts.
People should never share phone passwords, banking passwords or OTPs.
If a phone is lost, its SIM and banking services should be blocked immediately and any fraud should be reported to 1930.
Police say organised gangs steal phones after observing victims’ screen-lock credentials in crowded public places.
When passwords are unknown, alleged offenders pose as bus staff and trick victims into revealing them.
Three suspects were arrested and five mobile phones were seized by the Hyderabad Cyber Crime Wing.
Using stolen SIM cards, stored financial data and OTPs, gangs allegedly reset banking credentials and transfer funds.
Police advised blocking lost-phone SIM cards, freezing banking services, disabling handsets through CEIR and reporting fraud to 1930.
- Who
- Hyderabad Police, Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar and the Hyderabad Cyber Crime Wing; organised gangs are alleged to be responsible.
- What
- Police warned about hybrid cyber fraud combining mobile-phone theft, social engineering and unauthorised banking transactions; three suspects were arrested.
- When
- The warning was issued on Wednesday; no calendar date was specified in the articles.
- Where
- Hyderabad, especially bus stands, railway stations, crowded RTC buses, public transit areas and other crowded places.
- Why
- The alleged gangs seek access to phones, SIM cards, stored financial information and OTPs so they can reset banking credentials and transfer money.
- Arrests
- The Hyderabad Cyber Crime Wing arrested three accused individuals.
- Phones seized
- Police seized five mobile phones.
- Primary targets
- Senior citizens, daily commuters and people with limited technological awareness.
- Reported tactics
- Shoulder-surfing, deliberate distractions, phone theft and calls posing as bus conductors or drivers.
- Information targeted
- Card photographs, CVVs, PINs, bank-passbook details, Aadhaar and PAN documents, and identity information.
- Services targeted
- PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, net banking, mobile banking and UPI services.
- Recommended reporting
- Victims should call the National Cyber Crime Helpline at 1930 or use the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
