r/ethicalhacking

A person I know has scammed me for approximately ₹2 lakh in money and ₹5 lakh worth of textile stock. I have tried approaching the police, but so far I haven’t received much practical help, so I’m trying to understand what legitimate options I have.

Some background:

• I have known this person through a friend who has been involved in an instalment business and has known him for around 4–6 years.
• I have his phone number, email address, photograph, and other information that may help establish his identity.
• According to information I received, he has allegedly taken approximately ₹60 lakh from multiple people in his hometown, reportedly using his disabled daughter as the reason for collecting money, and then disappeared.
• I am primarily trying to identify his approximate current location or establish useful digital leads

I am not asking anyone to hack his accounts, access private information, dox him, threaten him, or break the law.

What I’m hoping someone experienced in cybersecurity/OSINT can tell me is:

1. What OSINT methods can be used with a phone number, email address and photograph to identify publicly available information or possible location clues?
2. What digital evidence should I preserve before attempting anything further?
3. Are there particular resources or professionals in India who deal with this type of online financial fraud / OSINT investigation?
4. If someone is willing to guide me privately, I can provide the information I have and explain the timeline of what happened.

I understand that a phone number or email address alone may not give an exact location, and I’m not expecting anyone to magically track his live location. I mainly want to know what can realistically be established from the information I already have and what can be legally passed to the authorities.

The financial loss is significant for me, so any genuine guidance from people experienced in this field would be appreciated.