BENGALURU: The Malleswaram police have busted a gang of cybercriminals in connection with a FedEx courier scam, and arrested eight fraudsters who defrauded over Rs 1 crore from people. Police recovered over Rs 13.17 lakh in cash, 11 mobile phones, and froze Rs 19 lakh transferred across 148 bank accounts. The accused were identified as Wasim N (30), Habeebullah M (35), Nizamuddin (24), Mushraff Khan (24), B Nurulla Khan (53), Mohammed Umar (44), Syed Ahmed alias Moula, and Syed Hussain.
Police said the accused posed as Mumbai Crime Branch officers and defrauded people by falsely claiming that their FedEx parcel contained a number of items, including drugs, passports, and credit cards. The accused coerced people into paying a specific amount by threatening them that their accounts would be frozen by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) if they fail to pay a certain amount.
Along with 11 mobile phones, police seized cheque books, passbooks, and ATM cards. Police are investigating the matter to check if more people were involved.
FedEx released a statement warning people, amid increasing cyber cases being reported against the courier service. “FedEx does not request personal information through unsolicited phone calls, mail or email for goods being shipped or held, unless requested or initiated by customers.
If any individual receives any suspicious phone calls or messages, they are advised not to provide their personal information. Instead, they should immediately contact the local law enforcement authorities within the vicinity, or report to the cybercrime department of the government of India,” the statement said.