A total of 184 social media profiles across different social media platforms that were actively operating and running 801 paid advertisements promoting online gaming, betting applications and fake investment websites targeting users in India were identified and taken down during April, police said on Saturday.
These advertisements were strategically designed to attract vulnerable users by promising easy money, bonuses, referral commissions and huge returns on their investments, a release from Hyderabad Police said.
The Cyber Crime unit, through continuous digital monitoring and intelligence-based tracking, identified 184 social media profiles, which were systematically sharing promotional content, referral links, IPL predictions and deepfake videos of well-known personalities to lure the public into unlawful betting and fake investment schemes, it said.
As a precautionary and preventive measure, all the 184 identified profiles have been reported to the platform concerned and have been taken down to prevent further dissemination of such unlawful and misleading content.
Further, based on the identified violations, six FIRs were registered in April against the promoters.
As part of the ongoing cyber patrol initiatives, a cumulative total of 427 social media profiles and 1903 paid promotional advertisements have been identified and taken down for promoting online gaming, illegal betting, and fake investment websites targeting users in India, the release further said.
Further investigation is underway to trace the individuals and financial channels associated with these profiles.
Legal action will be initiated against those found responsible under relevant provisions of law, the release added.