Youth held for extorting ₹38 lakh from 70-year-old man in honey trap fraud in Hyderabad

A 26-year-old youngster from Andhra Pradesh was arrested by the Hyderabad Cyber Crimes police for allegedly creating a fake Facebook profile in a woman’s name and extorting ₹38 lakh from a 70-year-old retired employee through a honey-trap and blackmail scheme.

The accused, a resident of Palakollu in West Godavari district, allegedly befriended the senior citizen on Facebook and gradually gained his confidence before drawing him into intimate conversations. Two mobile phones were seized following the arrest.

The case dates back to June 17, 2025, when the Hyderabad resident approached the police stating that he had received a friend request from a Facebook account carrying a woman’s name. After he accepted it, the two began chatting.

The person behind the account initially sought money citing household requirements. The victim transferred money on multiple occasions, following which another man contacted him claiming to be a relative of the woman, police said.