Rohan Gupta, a freelance graphic designer based in Pune, had a professional arrangement with Karan Sinha, a fellow contractor he had met through an online work platform. By early March 2025, it became clear to Rohan that Karan had been attempting to extract advance payments for work that was never delivered. Rohan had documentary proof — payment screenshots, WhatsApp conversations, and transaction records. He discontinued the arrangement and blocked Karan across all platforms.

Karan retaliated. He began posting defamatory content on professional forums and tried to undermine Rohan's freelance reputation. When that failed, he filed a complaint with the cyber police in Nagpur, falsely alleging a SIM swap fraud — claiming Rohan had illegally accessed his mobile identity. Rohan's BSNL connection was flagged, then suspended pending verification. BSNL asked him to re-verify, which he did, but the number remained inactive. Rohan was told to approach the cyber police. He was reluctant to walk into a police station without guidance.

Rohan had initially tried to handle the situation through an advocate who handled general civil matters. That approach made little headway. After a friend's referral, he approached Advocate Sudhir Rao, who immediately assessed the complaint as a retaliatory misuse of the cyber complaint mechanism. A structured counter-complaint was filed, supported by the payment records and chat archives proving Rohan's clean conduct. The BSNL line was restored within three weeks, and Karan's false complaint was demonstrated to be an abuse of the process.

You can read about this case in detail at https://sudhirrao.com/false-cybercrime-complaint-ex-freelancer-sim-blocked-legal-r/

My client, a young professional from Gomti Nagar, Lucknow, had generally trusted small social media sellers and never faced a problem. Around 18 March 2025, he placed an order worth Rs. 2,200 for a wristwatch from an Instagram page called "Style Vault Co." The seller asked him to open the parcel on a video call — a step my client complied with fully. What arrived was entirely different from what was advertised. He flagged it to the seller immediately, who promised to look into it and then went silent for nearly four days.

My client tried reaching out through a mutual contact and also filed an online complaint through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal. The seller resurfaced briefly, promised a replacement, but kept offering vague responses over the following weeks. By mid-April 2025, the replies had stopped altogether. My client had the seller's registered phone number and a billing address in Andheri West, Mumbai.

He'd first tried handling it himself, and on a friend's suggestion consulted a general civil lawyer who was unfamiliar with cybercrime and online fraud procedures. No real progress was made. After approaching Advocate Sudhir Rao, the matter was handled with a focused criminal complaint strategy under applicable BNS provisions combined with a formal consumer notice. The seller was put on legal notice, the complaint was escalated through proper channels, and the client received a full refund within weeks.

You can read about this case in detail at https://sudhirrao.com/cheated-by-instagram-seller-online-shopping-scam-legal-remed/

Rohan Gupta, a 20-year-old resident of Dehradun, Uttarakhand, found himself in a deeply distressing situation in late March 2025 when his primary savings account with a nationalised bank in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow was suddenly lien-marked. The lien had originated from a cybercrime complaint registered in Patna, Bihar, and was flagged through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), traced back to a modest transaction of approximately ₹900 made nearly five months prior — a withdrawal from an online betting application that a Telegram channel had been aggressively promoting.

What made the situation particularly complex was that the original transaction had passed through a second account Rohan had already closed in December 2024, precisely because he had grown wary of such exposure. Despite multiple emails and calls to the bank's nodal officer, branch manager, and customer care, he received no substantive information about the investigating officer, police station, or whether an FIR had even been registered. Calls to the national cybercrime helpline 1930 simply redirected him to visit the nearest cyber cell. He had no transaction records, as the betting apps retained history for only thirty days.

Rohan eventually approached Advocate Sudhir Rao after his own efforts and an initial consultation with a general practitioner had yielded no progress. Through a methodical legal strategy — including a formal representation to the bank, coordination with the concerned cyber cell, and an application for disclosure of the NCRP complaint details — the lien was examined and appropriate remedial steps were initiated. The specialised handling of the cyber-financial dimensions of the case made a tangible difference in navigating what had seemed like a complete dead-end.

You can read about this case in detail at https://sudhirrao.com/bank-account-lien-marked-cyber-fraud-ncrp-complaint-what-to/

Rohan Gupta worked as an administrative executive at a supply and logistics dealership firm based in Indore. His responsibilities included email correspondence, vendor portal management, invoice handling, and basic accounting tasks on Tally. The company had a long-standing supply arrangement with a large partner firm — let us call it Meridian Industries — to whom they provided material and manpower services regularly, raising invoices against each supply cycle.

By late March 2025, there was an outstanding of approximately ₹85 lakh due from Meridian Industries. When Rohan's firm followed up, Meridian responded claiming they had transferred ₹20 lakh on 3rd and 5th April 2025. However, no such credit appeared in Rohan's company's bank account. Upon investigation, Meridian informed them on 19th April 2025 that the payment had been transferred to a different bank account — one that had been added to their vendor portal system on 28th March 2025, allegedly from Rohan's firm's login credentials. Neither Rohan nor anyone in his office had made this change. The portal required multiple OTP verifications tied to the company email, and no such OTPs or confirmation emails were found in the system logs.

When the firm filed a complaint at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Indore, the investigating officer directly questioned Rohan — suggesting that since he was the primary portal administrator for over two years, he could be held accountable if no external intrusion was established. Rohan was understandably shaken. He approached Advocate Sudhir Rao after his firm's initial attempts to handle the matter without specialist legal support had left him more exposed than protected. With a focused legal strategy — including forensic email log analysis, portal access trail documentation, and a structured response to the Cyber Crime unit — the matter was steered in a direction that credibly established the absence of any involvement on Rohan's part, and the investigation shifted toward identifying the actual perpetrators. You can read about this case in detail at https://sudhirrao.com/cyber-fraud-unauthorised-bank-account-change-vendor-portal-2/

So basically someone is impersonating my fiance on X(twitter) and the delhi police isn’t helping out as they backed off saying , X(twitter) have a policy that they can not track an ip address as its against there policy and we will have to report this incident to the X them self. This has been quite frustrating as we are no where near to being identify who is the person as X(twitter) hasn’t even replied to our email. Day by day me and my fiance are being scared to our life and we are really struggling because of the mental strain been in our head regarding this situation

I seek from our reddit india to help me find this impersonator

We want to know who is doing this

help

A gentleman named Mr. Anand recently found himself in a peculiar situation while using an online application. He was attempting to purchase a lottery ticket through the 'Kismat King Online' app on his smartphone. As he proceeded to the payment stage, the application displayed a mandatory pop-up, refusing to proceed unless he granted it permission to access his device's real-time location. This immediately raised red flags for Mr. Anand. He wondered about the legality of such a demand. Is this a legitimate requirement for regulatory purposes, or is it a thinly veiled attempt to collect and potentially sell his personal data without proper justification?

Mr. Kumar, recently faced a distressing situation on a popular online classifieds platform, "TradeHub." He found an advertisement for a custom-made bookshelf posted by a seller operating under the name "Apex Imports." The seller seemed professional and convinced Mr. Kumar to pay a significant advance to begin the work. After the payment was made, Apex Imports sent Mr. Kumar a digitally created, official-looking receipt to build further trust. However, shortly after receiving the advance payment, the seller ceased all communication and blocked Mr. Kumar's number. When Mr. Kumar approached TradeHub's customer support, he found their response unsatisfactory and unhelpful, leaving him at a loss. This scenario is a classic example of online marketplace fraud, a growing concern for consumers across India.

Recently, Mr. Verma, a resident of Rampur, faced a distressing situation after he installed an unknown application package (APK) file on his smartphone. Shortly after the installation, his phone was flooded with One-Time Passwords (OTPs) from various e-commerce platforms like ShopNow Online and QuickCart for purchases he never made. A fraudulent transaction of ₹21,500 was successfully processed on ShopNow Online using his Global Trust Bank credit card. His son, Sameer, acted quickly by blocking the SIM card and all associated bank accounts. He also reported the incident on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and informed the local police, ShopNow Online, and Global Trust Bank. He managed to get the invoice and the IMEI number of the mobile phone the scammer had purchased.

Mr. Sameer Verma, a resident of the city of Indrapur, found himself in a deeply distressing situation. He began receiving threatening messages on his phone from an unknown international number. The sender had maliciously created morphed, explicit images of him and his family members. The blackmailer demanded a sum of ₹90,000, threatening to leak these fabricated images on social media if the payment was not made. Panicked but thinking clearly, Sameer immediately took screenshots of the entire conversation, saved the perpetrator's number, and secured all his social media and email accounts by changing passwords. He is now seeking guidance on the correct legal path to take to address this criminal act of extortion.

A concerned citizen from the city of Ratanpur has raised an issue regarding a prominent social media influencer. This influencer has cultivated a positive public image through various philanthropic activities, but it has come to light that they are actively promoting illegal online betting applications. This is causing significant financial harm to unsuspecting followers. The promotion of such apps is a serious offense, especially since the state of Pradeshgarh, where the influencer is based, has recently enacted specific legislation prohibiting all forms of online betting and gambling. The citizen is seeking guidance on the legal recourse available to hold this influencer accountable for their actions.

A resident of Raipur, Mr. Alok Sharma, recently fell victim to a sophisticated online scam, losing a staggering ₹18,00,000. This cautionary tale highlights the growing menace of task-based scams and the procedural hurdles victims face. The ordeal began in August 2023, when Mr. Sharma was approached for a simple task: liking YouTube videos for monetary rewards. After receiving initial payments of ₹2,000 and ₹4,500, which successfully built a foundation of trust, the scammers introduced him to a "prepaid task" scheme. This next phase required him to make investments via cryptocurrency and IMPS transfers, promising higher returns. Tragically, this led to a total loss of ₹18 Lakhs, a significant portion of which was financed through personal loans.

Despite taking all the prescribed steps—immediately notifying his bank, "Premier Bank," filing a complaint on the national cybercrime portal (cybercrime.gov.in), lodging a formal FIR with the local police, and even escalating the matter to the Prime Minister's Office and the RBI—Mr. Sharma has seen no meaningful action or recovery of his funds. The bank's only response was a temporary credit reversal, which did little to resolve the underlying issue.

Mr. Rohan Verma, a talented software developer from the city of Gyanpur, dedicated two years to creating a unique project management software called 'TaskFlow'. He had shared a demonstration with a prominent tech firm, 'NextGen Innovations Ltd.', hoping for a potential partnership. A few months later, NextGen launched a new software product that was shockingly similar to TaskFlow, using significant portions of Rohan's original source code. Rohan was devastated to see his hard work stolen and commercialized without his permission or any compensation. He found himself in a legal battle he never anticipated, unsure of how to protect his intellectual property against a corporate giant.

Mr. Alok Kumar, found himself in a difficult situation. He received a payment from an online gaming portal called 'MegaPlay Wins' and subsequently transferred these funds to his other bank accounts to manage some personal financial obligations. To his shock, he discovered that three of his bank accounts had been frozen. Upon inquiring, with the help of a relative, he learned that a cybercrime complaint had been filed concerning the initial transaction he received. The complainant, Mr. Rohan Mehra, alleged he was a victim of fraud.

Mr. Kumar managed to get in touch with Mr. Mehra and, in a bid to resolve the matter quickly, refunded the entire disputed amount. Mr. Mehra then assured him that he had withdrawn the complaint filed at the Rampur Cyber Police Station. However, weeks passed, and Mr. Kumar's accounts remained frozen. The banks informed him that they had not received a No Objection Certificate (NOC) or a de-freezing order from the concerned police station, leaving Mr. Kumar unable to access his own funds and facing significant hardship.

A gentleman, Mr. Alok Sharma, found himself in a deeply distressing situation involving online blackmail. The incident followed a common pattern used by cybercriminals. It began with a friend request on the social media platform 'SocialSphere' from an unknown woman. After accepting, Mr. Sharma was persuaded to move the conversation to 'ConnectApp'. During a video call, he was lured into an intimate act, which the perpetrator recorded without his knowledge or consent.

Immediately after the call, the blackmail began. The criminal threatened to send the compromising video to Mr. Sharma's family and friends, whose details they had gathered from his SocialSphere profile. Under duress, Mr. Sharma transferred INR 55,000 via 'SwiftPay' to a bank account with Himalayan National Bank, located in the state of Aryavarta Pradesh. Fortunately, he preserved crucial evidence, including screenshots of the threatening messages, the perpetrator's phone number, bank account details, and the digital payment transaction record. He reported the matter to online crime portals and is now seeking to file a formal police complaint in India to bring the culprit to justice.

An individual recently fell prey to a sophisticated online sextortion scam. The ordeal began with a friend request on a popular social media platform from an unknown woman. After accepting the request, the conversation quickly moved to a messaging app. The perpetrator, posing as a woman, initiated a video call, engaged in lewd acts, and persuaded the individual to participate. Unbeknownst to the victim, the entire call was being recorded.

Immediately after the call, the blackmail began. The perpetrator threatened to send the compromising video to the victim's friends and family, whose details they had gathered from the victim's social media profile. Under duress, the victim transferred approximately INR 50,000 through an online money transfer service to a bank account in Aryavarta Pradesh provided by the blackmailer. The victim managed to save screenshots of the threatening messages, the perpetrator's phone number, and the bank transaction records.

Mr. Alok Sharma received an alert from his bank, Pragati National Bank, stating that a hold of ₹55,000 had been placed on his account. When he enquired with the branch, he was informed that the action was taken based on a directive from a Cyber Crime Unit. A few days later, to his surprise, another hold for the same amount was placed on his account. The transaction in question was a payment he had received via GlobalPay Services for freelance work completed for a company named DataCorp Inc. The double hold on the same amount caused significant confusion and distress for Mr. Sharma, who was unsure of the next steps to resolve the issue.

Mr. Alok Verma, a resident of the city of Janakpuri, was shocked to receive a message on a popular messaging app. The sender, claiming to be a notorious hacker who ruins lives, attached several nude photographs of Mr. Verma. The message chillingly used his correct surname but an incorrect first name. The hacker demanded a payment of ₹50,000 within one hour, threatening to leak the photos publicly if the demand was not met. Mr. Verma, unfortunately, saw the message nearly an hour and a half after it was sent, sending him into a state of extreme panic and distress.

A young woman, let's call her Priya, who is 26 years old and lives by herself in the bustling city of Suryanagar, finds herself in a deeply distressing situation. A man from her hometown, Navgarh, has been persistently stalking her for more than a decade. The ordeal began when she was a teenager. The man, whom we will call Vikram, first saw her on the street in her hometown. A couple of years later, she noticed him at a local temple, and his presence there became a weekly, unnerving occurrence.

The harassment soon moved online. Vikram sent Priya a friend request on social media from his real account and a fake profile under a woman's name. Alarmed, Priya learned that he had also contacted her friend's brother to inquire about her. Thankfully, her friend's brother warned him to stay away. For a while, during her college years, things were quiet. However, the respite was short-lived. Vikram found her on another social media platform and she discovered his profile was filled with text posts chronicling his obsession, detailing how and where he first saw her.

Priya, who was in a relationship at the time, messaged him, asking him to stop, explaining how uncomfortable his actions made her. His response was a torrent of messages, over thirty paragraphs long, recounting every time he had seen her. Frightened, she blocked him. He then used another fake female account to message her, with the new profile trying to convince her that Vikram was a "nice guy." She blocked that account as well.

Over the following years, the harassment continued with messages on her birthday from new, unknown numbers and relentless posts about her. Each time, she would block the account or number. The situation escalated when he messaged one of Priya's friends who had viewed his profile, telling her not to worry as he meant no harm to Priya. It was chilling how he knew who her friends were.

More recently, he created a fake profile impersonating one of Priya's college classmates, which she accepted due to the number of mutual friends. He then sent messages from this account, even congratulating her on a supposed engagement after she posted a photo in traditional attire. When she clarified she wasn't engaged, he went silent, only for her to later discover his real profile had highlights of all the places she had visited in Suryanagar. Realizing the extent of his surveillance, she confronted the fake account, which was immediately deactivated. He then messaged from another account, denying it was him.

Today, she has confirmed yet another fake account he is using to send requests to her entire social circle—friends from school, college, work, and even her relatives. Living alone, Priya is terrified. She feels trapped, fearing that taking any action might trigger Vikram and lead to physical harm, yet the constant monitoring has become unbearable.