Hyderabad Police Summon Google Executives Over ₹48 Lakh Play Store App Fraud

The Hyderabad Cybercrime police have asked senior executives and technical team members of Google to attend a meeting in Hyderabad this week to explain the safeguards and screening mechanisms the company maintains to prevent fraudulent applications on the Google Play Store. The direction comes after law enforcement officials named the Google India head as a co-accused in three separate cybercrime cases in the city involving fake stock market investment applications that resulted in victims losing more than ₹48 lakh.

The three cases were registered by the Hyderabad Cybercrime police between June 30 and July 15 after three separate victims approached the authorities with complaints. According to the police, the victims alleged that they had been lured by cyber fraudsters into making investments through stock market investment applications that were allegedly available on the Google Play Store, leading to cumulative financial losses exceeding ₹48 lakh.

Upon registering the formal complaints, cybercrime police took the step of naming the Google India head as a co-accused in all three criminal cases, alongside the individual fraudsters who had lured the victims into investing their money through the software applications. Following the registration of these cases, the cybercrime police issued official notices to Google to formally notify the tech company about the ongoing criminal proceedings.

After reports detailing the criminal cases were published on July 21, Google's India nodal officer contacted the Hyderabad Cybercrime police to discuss the matter. The nodal officer stated to cybercrime officials that Google consistently follows established due procedures and screening standards whenever applications are permitted to be uploaded to the Play Store platform.

Senior police officials confirmed that they have now asked senior executives from Google, along with members of the company's technical team, to attend a face-to-face meeting with Hyderabad police this week. During the meeting, Google's representatives will be required to explain in detail the specific checks and technical safeguards in place before applications are permitted onto the Play Store, as well as how the firm responds when complaints of fraud are reported.