The Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police have registered two First Information Reports (FIRs) against the Head of App Store India and compliance officials at messaging platform Telegram following separate cyber fraud incidents in which two city residents lost over ₹21 lakh. The legal actions target primary fraudsters alongside executive leadership and grievance officers at major digital platforms, expanding law enforcement scrutiny regarding intermediary liability and platform diligence. The cases involve an online stock trading scam hosted via a mobile application available on Apple’s digital storefront and a fake part-time task scheme conducted through Telegram channels.
App Store Trading App Scam and ₹12.70 Lakh Financial Loss
The first incident centers on a 62-year-old retired employee residing in the Somajiguda area of Hyderabad, who lost ₹12.70 lakh to an organized investment fraud. According to police reports, the victim encountered a stock trading advertisement on Instagram in late June. Upon clicking the advertisement link, he was contacted by individuals identifying themselves as Sonal Jagannath Naik and Kunal Sumaya, who instructed him to download an investment application named “JBara” directly from the official Apple App Store.
Relying on the credibility of the storefront, the victim deposited funds across multiple bank accounts between June 30 and July 23. Although his account dashboard displayed initial virtual profits of ₹15,000—which he was permitted to withdraw—and eventually showed an accumulated balance of ₹25.40 lakh, his subsequent withdrawal requests were blocked. The operators then demanded an additional ₹47.89 lakh under the guise of an advance initial public offering (IPO) subscription fee. Recognizing he was trapped in a fraudulent enterprise, the complainant approached law enforcement, leading to an FIR against Naik, Sumaya, and the Head of App Store India under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology (IT) Act.
Telegram Part-Time Job Scam Targeting Task Ratings
The second case involves a 59-year-old homemaker from Almasguda who was defrauded of ₹8.57 lakh through an online part-time employment scheme. On July 26, the victim clicked an Instagram advertisement promising work-from-home employment, which redirected her to a dedicated Telegram channel. Channel administrators operating under the names Aarohi Verma, Divya Mittal, and Sanjeev Kumar initially assigned her basic tasks reviewing and rating Google business locations, paying her small commissions totaling ₹9,670 to establish trust.
After building rapport, the handlers transitioned the victim to high-yield “merchant order tasks” requiring upfront financial deposits via Unified Payments Interface (UPI) handles, promising a 30 percent profit margin. Following an initial transfer of ₹3,000, the fraudsters persuaded her to execute continuous transactions between July 27 and July 28, amounting to a total loss of ₹8.57 lakh without any capital refund or profit payout. Police subsequently registered a case against five named operators alongside compliance and grievance redressal officers of Telegram in India.
Intermediary Scrutiny and Technical Enforcement Notices
The registration of cases against App Store and Telegram representatives follows a broader trend by regional law enforcement in Telangana targeting executive leadership at global technology firms. Cybercrime officials highlighted that digital platforms hosting unverified software or facilitating unmonitored communications channels bear regulatory responsibilities to prevent consumer harm. Under provisions of Section 79 of the IT Act, platforms must exercise due diligence and act promptly upon notification to take down malicious assets.
Investigators confirmed that formal notices are being issued to Apple and Telegram requiring the immediate takedown of the fraudulent JBara application and associated communication channels. Law enforcement has also requested server logs, account registration telemetry, IP logs, and financial transaction records to trace the primary operators of both syndicates, while financial intelligence units work to identify and freeze the recipient bank accounts.
