CHENNAI: The ‘drugs in parcel’ scam has started doing rounds again in the name of the multinational company FedEx. Using the company’s name, fraudsters contact people and swindle money from gullible victims. The Chennai City Police had issued a public alert in September about the scam and asked people to be vigilant.
Explaining the modus operandi, a senior cybercrime police officer said, “In the name of FedEx, a fraudster will contact a person on their mobile phone. They claim that there’s a parcel with their name on it and it contains drugs, jewellery or any other contraband. By this time, the victim will be nervous and scared. Then another person claiming to be a police officer will be connected through a video call. This ‘officer’ will ask the victim to keep the issue private as it is under investigation.”
Following the call, forged documents from the RBI and CBI will be sent to them claiming that an arrest warrant has been issued, the police officer said. When the victim is completely under their spell, they will say that it has been found that the illegal activity has been carried out using the victim’s Aadhaar. They then ask the victim to send their Aadhaar details and bank account details for inquiry. Next, the fraudsters ask the victim to send money to a bank account for RBI verification.
“Believing this to be true and wanting to clear their names, the victims send money to the fraudsters,” the officer said. A 30-year-old woman who got one such call twice spoke to TNIE on condition of anonymity. “In February this year, I got a call from an unknown number and the person claimed to be a FedEx staff. He said there was a parcel with my name on it and it contained drugs. He claimed that the transaction was made using my Aadhaar card. ”
The second time the woman got a call was in September. But since she knew that the scam was going around, she was alert. When she was told that her Aadhaar was used to make an illegal transaction, she asked the person to tell her the full Aadhaar number. The call got disconnected.
(In case of financial crimes, victims can contact 1930 to lodge complaints or can visit www.cybercrime.gov.in)