Cyberabad Police Bursts Corporate Extortion Racket

In a significant breakthrough, the Cyberabad police today arrested two individuals - Gadi Manikanta and Yendapalli Jessy Sudarshan - involved in a high-level extortion and cyber-intimidation plot against the Hetero Group of Companies, a leading pharmaceutical conglomerate.

A representative of the Hetero group reported that a senior company executive had received a series of threatening emails in August, demanding USD 250 million. The accused falsely claimed to possess sensitive internal information and threatened to escalate fabricated allegations to the USFDA. Fake documents, screenshots and impersonation of an FDA official were used to intensify pressure, even triggering a real USFDA inspection.

According to Cyber Crime DCP B Sai Sri, the modus operandi of the accused included creating fake email IDs impersonating USFDA officials, sending threatening emails alleging regulatory violations, sharing falsified documents to coerce payment, using the Signal app for covert communication, and demanding USD 250 million to suppress false allegations.

The police cautioned organisations and the public to remain vigilant against cyber extortion attempts, fake regulatory emails and fraudulent documents, and to avoid responses to suspicious or threatening emails; verify regulatory communication through official channels; refrain from sharing confidential information with unknown sources; preserve digital evidence such as emails, logs and screenshots; enable MFA for all email accounts; conduct routine cybersecurity audits; and report cyber crimes immediately to 1930 or via the national cybercrime portal.