Hyderabad cybercrime police remove 184 social media accounts tied to illegal betting and fraud schemes

Hyderabad’s Cyber Crime police say they identified and took down 184 social media accounts in April that were promoting illegal online betting, gambling and fake investment schemes, as part of intensified cyber patrols aimed at curbing unlawful digital content.

The latest operation was presented as part of a broader cyber-surveillance effort by Hyderabad police, which said the removed accounts had been active mainly on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram and were linked to 801 paid advertisements targeting Indian users. According to the reports, the content pushed promises of easy money, referral commissions, bonus offers and betting tips, often built around cricket and IPL-related predictions.

What makes the case more serious is that the accounts were not limited to gambling promotion alone. Police said the same network also pushed fraudulent investment narratives and misleading financial offers, while some campaigns allegedly used deepfake celebrity videos and other manipulative content to draw users in. Hyderabad Cyber Crime officials described the campaign as part of a wider attempt to stop illicit digital ecosystems that blur the line between betting, scam marketing and online financial fraud.

Investigators also said the operation was not an isolated one-month sweep. The reports note that Hyderabad cybercrime police had begun deeper scrutiny in February, eventually identifying 427 suspicious profiles and roughly 900 betting-related advertisements during the earlier phase of the crackdown. Cumulatively, the unit is said to have removed 427 profiles and 1,903 advertisements over recent months, showing that the authorities are treating the problem as a sustained digital-enforcement challenge rather than a one-off social media clean-up.

Police added that many of the betting-linked handles appeared to be operated from outside India, including from locations such as Malaysia and Dubai, even when the profiles looked Indian to local users. That cross-border element may complicate the investigation, but Hyderabad police have already registered six cases and approached social media platforms for more detailed account information. The case underlines how online betting enforcement in India is increasingly shifting toward platform monitoring, digital advertising trails and coordinated cyber patrols rather than relying only on conventional raids.