Hyderabad Cyber Crime police have arrested a key offender in a large-scale matrimonial and investment fraud case. The accused, Pedapudi Prasanna Kumar (32), from Visakhapatnam, was apprehended at Chennai airport while returning from Cambodia.
Police say the mastermind impersonated women online, convincing victims to deposit money into fake cryptocurrency and forex trading platforms under promises of high returns and marriage alliances.
A 28-year-old Hyderabad resident fell prey to the scam after receiving a message from “Anjali Kandula” on Shaadi.com via WhatsApp. Claiming to work in the UK as an Azure DevOps Engineer, she gained his trust and persuaded him to invest in a fake platform called Bakktcoin, claiming her uncle was an expert trader. Using Binance USDT (ERC-20) transactions, the victim was shown a false wallet balance of 14,481 USDT (approx. Rs12–12.5 lakh). When he attempted to withdraw his funds on November 13, 2025, he was pressured to invest more, ultimately losing Rs11,17,834.
DCP Cyber Crime V Aravind Babu said that Prasanna Kumar confessed to joining an organized cyber fraud network in Cambodia in April 2024. He had traveled overseas via a job consultant in Visakhapatnam and was trained by kingpins targeting Indian nationals online.
The accused also procured 400–500 illegal SIM cards from local facilitators Ravi Kiran and Ganga Raju, who were arrested previously. Using these SIMs, he created multiple social media and matrimonial accounts, impersonated women, and defrauded victims into investing in fake trading platforms.
Prasanna Kumar has been produced in court, and investigations continue to identify accomplices, both local and international. Authorities are also tracing the money trail to recover the defrauded amounts.
