Hyderabad: After Hyderabad police booked the Google India head as a co-accused in a cyber fraud case, Cyberabad police have now booked the Google India’s nodal officer on charges of negligence after a defence PSU employee lost Rs 7.95 lakh by investing in stocks through a fake app on the Play Store.Between June 30 and July 15, Hyderabad Cybercrime police registered three separate cases naming Google India head as a co-accused along with the cyber fraudsters, after three victims alleged they lost more than Rs 48 lakh by investing through fraudulent apps available on the Google Play Store.After the cases were registered, Google’s nodal officer met the Hyderabad Cyber Crime police. He was asked to come with their senior executives, including the technical team, to explain the checks and measures in place to ensure people do not fall prey to fraudulent apps. The meeting is likely to take place this week.A senior police officer said that under the Information Technology (IT) Act, an intermediary such as Google is exempt from criminal liability for the actions of a third party like an app, provided it acts promptly to remove fraudulent apps. “However, if an app causing monetary loss to people through fraudulent means is not removed despite a notice from police, without a valid reason, the company also becomes liable under Section 79(3) of the IT Act,” a Hyderabad cybercrime officer said.In the latest case registered at the Cyberabad Cyber Crime Police station, a 58-year-old defence PSU employee alleged that he lost Rs 7.95 lakh after investing in stocks through GVS Institution app, available on the Play Store.“Fraudsters who came in contact through WhatsApp groups in the first week of July, advised me to invest through the GVS Institution app for institutional trading. I deposited Rs 7.95 lakh into different bank accounts between July 10 and 20 through the app. The app showed profits of Rs 27.75 lakh, but my withdrawal requests were repeatedly denied,” the victim said.As the fraudsters demanded Rs 9.26 lakh additional payment as withdrawal tax, the victim became suspicious and approached the police. “Believing that Play Store maintains genuine apps, I downloaded it and lost Rs 7.95 lakh. Please initiate necessary legal action against the Indian Google Nodal Head for negligence,” the victim stated in his police complaint.When TOI verified the GVS Institution app on Play Store, it had 100+ downloads with a 1.3 rating and 12 reviews. All the reviews were posted in July, and 11 out of the 12 reviews say that they invested money through the app but payment remained pending. “I regret investing through this app. My money has been stuck without any proper explanation,” says one user on July 24. “Used this app for investment. Funds are pending for a long time with no clear resolution,” says another on July 23.Based on the complaint, Cyberabad Cyber Crime police booked a case on Sunday evening against Nodal Officer of Google India and the WhatsApp group admins and suspected bank account holders under relevant sections of BNS and the IT Act. “As part of preliminary probe, we will issue notice to the Google nodal officer regarding the case and the app in question. We will also analyse the phone numbers used by the accused to identify and arrest them,” said a Cyber Crime official.
