KOLLAM: Cyber scammers have fleeced Rs 40 lakh from a Kollam native by posing as the officer of the Mumbai police. The scammers duped the victim claiming that a parcel sent to Thailand against his name contained 200 g of MDMA, a passport, a credit card, and a laptop, and hence that was seized by the Mumbai police.
The victim was first contacted by a person, who claimed to be the customer care executive of a renowned courier firm. The scammer convinced the man that the parcel was booked using his phone number, credit card, and bank account number. When he said he had never been to Mumbai nor sent such a parcel, the call was transferred to another person, who claimed to be a cybercrime cell cop.
The cyber cop said the Aadhaar number of the person was used by terrorists to open bank accounts and transferred the call to another person impersonating an IPS officer. The impersonator told the victim that his bank account needed to be scrutinised. He convinced the victim to transfer the cash from his account to another bank account for verification.
The victim complied, but he could not contact the scammers afterward. The Kollam East police have registered a case and launched a probe.