Cyberabad Police have arrested a 23-year-old man who allegedly created fake social media accounts using girls’ photos and cheated nearly one thousand people of about Rs. 26 lakhs. The accused is K. Pavan Kumar, a native of Tekulapalli Mandal in Khammam District. He currently lives in Kukatpalli. He had worked at several companies and later quit.
Police said Pavan Kumar created 13 fake accounts on Instagram and 14 on Facebook using girls’ names and photos. He used a photo of a female YouTube influencer from Kolkata for the fake profiles. He introduced himself to youths and men as a girl. He then collected their personal details and nude photos.
After gaining the victims’ trust, the accused posed as the girl’s sister. He threatened the victims and extorted money from them. He also collected funds from others in the name of investments. Police confirmed that he earned about Rs. 26.16 lakhs over four years through these methods.
Officials said the victims came from different walks of life. Identification showed that 14 police personnel, including inspectors and Additional DCPs, were among those targeted. Doctors, businessmen, software engineers and gig workers were also cheated.
The victims were from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Punjab. Some were from other countries as well. Cyberabad Police acted after receiving complaints from the victims and arrested the accused.
Police seized three cell phones, SIM cards, a laptop and a pen drive from him. The seized devices were used to run the fake accounts and carry out the fraud, according to police.
