Parcel Scam: Techie Loses Rs 2.24 Crore To Fraudsters Posing As Customs And NCB Officials
It all began on March 18 when Kumarasamy Sivakumar, an engineer from Jakkur in Bengaluru received a call from 'Delhi Customs'. The caller informed the software engineer that an air parcel from Delhi to Malaysia in his name had been held back at Delhi Airport since it carried 16 passports, 58 bank ATM cards, and 140-gram Ecstasy drug tablets (also known as MDMA, a banned narcotic).
In a shocking case of parcel scam, cyber frauds allegedly swindled off Rs 2.24 crore from a Bengaluru man, while posing as Customs and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials.
It all began on March 18 when Kumarasamy Sivakumar, an engineer from Jakkur in Bengaluru received a call from 'Delhi Customs'.
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Call from Delhi Customs
The caller informed the software engineer that an air parcel from Delhi to Malaysia in his name had been held back at Delhi Airport since it carried 16 passports, 58 bank ATM cards, and 140-gram Ecstasy drug tablets (also known as MDMA, a banned narcotic).
The Customs official then transferred the call to the 'Narcotics Control Bureau'.
Offered to drop case for money
The fraudster pretending to be an NCB official made Sivakumar download Skype and come online. The NCB officials then offered to settle the case and let him off the hook in exchange for money.
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An unwitting Sivakumar agreed, and between March 18 to March 27, he paid Rs 2.24 crore in eight installments through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) to them.
Too late to realise scam
Only later Sivakumar realised that he has been duped and by then it was too late.
On April 5 he approached police and lodged a complaint against the unknown fraudsters at the Bengaluru North East Cyber Crime Police Station.
How parcel scams work
Parcel scams also known as courier scams or drug parcel scams have been on the rise in India.
Such scams involve cyber frauds contacting unsuspecting victims pretending to be police or other law enforcement agency officials to inform them that a consignment in their name has been apprehended with drugs or other illegal stuff.
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The victims are put through hours of online 'interrogation' sometimes by multiple 'agencies'. The fraudsters then tell the panicked victims that they will drop the case if they are willing to pay a large amount of money.
Police and other agencies have regularly warned the public against such calls, and despite this, an increasing number of people are failing to notice the red flags and falling prey to such scams.
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