In a significant breakthrough, the Visakhapatnam City Cybercrime Police have apprehended key members of a Delhi-based scam ring responsible for duping residents of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The fraudsters, impersonating officials from the Aarogyasri health department, targeted unsuspecting individuals with false promises of healthcare refunds, causing financial losses to at least 146 victims.

Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Shankhabrata Bagchi revealed that the gang contacted victims through random mobile calls, claiming to process Aarogyasri service refunds. Victims were lured into clicking malicious links, which facilitated unauthorized withdrawals from their bank accounts.

In one instance, Raghupatruni Varalakshmi, a 52-year-old accountant from Visakhapatnam, was conned out of ₹84,243 after being informed about a reimbursement related to her daughter-in-law. Similarly, Yenni Sasikala and Boi Divya lost ₹99,342 and ₹99,430, respectively, totaling ₹2,83,015 among the three cases alone.

The police have arrested multiple suspects, including Kakani Narendra, Shivratri Karthik, and Paluri Prasad, who were brought to Visakhapatnam from Delhi under transit warrants. Earlier, two other suspects, Veernala Balaji and Poojala Chandrasekhar, were apprehended in Hyderabad for their involvement.

The investigation uncovered that the fraud was orchestrated by Satyam from Madhya Pradesh and Narendra from Andhra Pradesh, who operated with a network of Telugu-speaking accomplices from Delhi. The gang’s operation resulted in 57 reported cases in Andhra Pradesh and 89 in Telangana.

The cybercrime unit has urged citizens to exercise caution and verify any calls purportedly from Aarogyasri by contacting local hospital coordinators. They advised against sharing personal or banking details over the phone. Victims of similar frauds are encouraged to report incidents through the cybercrime portal or the toll-free number 1930.

This crackdown highlights the growing menace of cyber fraud and the need for vigilance among the public to prevent falling victim to such elaborate scams.

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