Senior citizens in Hyderabad have been defrauded of more than Rs 102 crore over the past 19 months, as scammers adopt increasingly sophisticated tactics to exploit older residents, police reports reveal.
Senior citizens in Hyderabad have lost more than Rs 102 crore to cyber fraud in the past 19 months, underscoring how aggressively scammers are targeting older residents with promises of easy money and threats of arrest, according to data from Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police Station.
Police said 403 cases involving victims aged above 60 were registered between January 2025 and July 31, 2026, with total losses of Rs 102.02 crore. Trading fraud accounted for the biggest share, with 113 cases causing losses of more than Rs 5.88 crore, while digital arrest scams ranked second, with 69 cases and losses of Rs 31.93 crore. OTP frauds made up 115 cases and led to losses of Rs 4.94 crore.
In one case cited by police, a 75-year-old retired government employee from Jubilee Hills was first contacted through a WhatsApp message offering part-time work. After gaining his trust with small tasks and early payouts, the fraudsters moved him into a Telegram group and steered him towards fake foreign exchange trading, eventually extracting Rs 96 lakh through withdrawal and processing charges. In another case, a 70-year-old retired gazetted officer was conned out of Rs 85 lakh after a caller claiming to be a Mumbai police officer used forged documents and a video call to frighten him with a fake money-laundering allegation.
The pattern fits a wider trend in the city and the state. Deccan Chronicle reported in March that three senior citizens in Hyderabad lost a combined Rs 4.4 crore in elaborate cyber scams, including a trading fraud in which a retired engineer lost Rs 1.72 crore. Separate reports on Hyderabad and Cyberabad show that cybercrime losses remain high even where case numbers have fallen, while National Crime Records Bureau data cited by local outlets indicates financial crimes against senior citizens in Telangana rose sharply in 2024. Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar urged older residents not to trust calls or video messages demanding payment, saying there is no legal concept of “digital arrest” and no government agency seeks money that way.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
