Defence Employee Cheated of Rs 8 Lakh via Fake Trading App; Google India Officer Named in Case

A case has been registered against Google India's nodal officer on charges of negligence after a defence public sector undertaking employee allegedly lost Rs 7.95 lakh through a fake trading application downloaded from the Google Play Store, police said on Wednesday.

The complaint was filed at the Cyberabad Cyber Crime police station. The victim stated that fraudsters contacted him via a social media platform in July, advising him to invest through the app after opening an account. He deposited Rs 7.95 lakh in different bank accounts via the app, which displayed profits. However, withdrawal requests were rejected, and he was asked to pay a withdrawal tax.

The victim said he trusted the app because it was available on the Google Play Store, believing it to be legitimate. Based on the complaint, police registered a case for negligence, naming Google India's nodal officer as an accused. There was no immediate response from the company.

This case follows three earlier cyber fraud incidents registered by Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police, where the 'Head of Google in India' was designated as a co-accused. In those cases, complainants alleged they were cheated by fraudsters promising high returns through fake apps on the Play Store. Cases were registered under relevant sections of the IT Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Google said on July 22 that it had initiated an investigation after being alerted about the alleged fraud and found that only one of the apps was available on the Play Store and complied with its financial services policy.