Hyderabad: Cyberabad Police have arrested five individuals for duping a reputed travel company of over Rs 3 crore through an online ticket booking and digital wallet fraud.

According to Cyberabad Cybercrime DCP B Sai Sree, the suspects, who acted as agents of the travel company, repeatedly recharged their online wallets, booked bus tickets, and immediately cancelled them. Due to a technical coding error, the system mistakenly credited both the refunded amount and the original wallet balance, effectively doubling the available balance for misuse.

The accused agents exploited this software glitch between May and July 2025, repeatedly booking and cancelling tickets to inflate their digital wallet balance. This mechanism allowed them to illegally siphon funds by making false refunds and reusing the inflated wallet amount for more bookings.

The police seized mobile phones and SIM cards as evidence and warned businesses to audit online payment systems regularly to avoid such frauds. This arrest is part of a wider crackdown, with 20 cybercrime arrests made across the city recently.