Hyderabad: The cyber crime police has registered eight cases of fraud against TV programmes like Pehchaan Kaun and Chehra Pehchano (Identify the celebrity) in January alone.



Over 25 cases were registered in 2014, with most of the victims coming from the old city, officials said. These contests, which are usually broadcast on Hindi channels, ask viewers to identify a celebrity from a masked picture. Viewers have to call a given number to win prizes.



“One such programme was being aired on the music channel B4U till two weeks ago. Khalid (name changed), a resident of the old city, participated in the contest and the programme organisers told him that he had won a Tata Safari and asked him to transfer Rs 1,80,000 for registration and processing,” cyber crime inspector V.P. Tiwari said.



“It was only after depositing the money that Khalid understood he was cheated,” said Mr Tiwari, who handles such cases. Mr Tiwari said, “Most of these groups approach Hindi TV channels for advertisement slots and run these programmes. The channels are in no way responsible for the ad and they also broadcast a disclaimer.” In most of these cases, the bank accounts of the fraudsters are closed once the transaction is completed.



When police tried to trace the fraudsters by approaching the banks, it was found that fake address proofs were used by them to create the bank accounts, Mr Tiwari said. Officials said the TV channels were paid from accounts created using fake addresses. Though the transactions are made from New Delhi and Mumbai, the accounts are being created using fake addresses from Bihar and Jharkhand, officials said. “Most of the bank accounts are from Jharkhand and Bihar, making it more difficult as investigation teams can’t be sent for every case,” said a senior cyber crime official.