Last Updated IST
Representative image of fraud.
A 28-year-old woman techie from Bengaluru fell victim to cyber fraud, losing Rs 4 lakh to scammers who posed as Mumbai cyber crime police. The woman received an unexpected call from an unidentified number, with the caller claiming to be from the FedEx courier company. The caller informed her that her parcel destined for Taiwan had been confiscated by customs officials at Mumbai Airport. Allegedly, the parcel contained 140 grams of MDMA and other valuable items.
When the woman refuted any knowledge of sending such a package, the caller asserted that cyber criminals might have illicitly accessed her personal documents for such purposes. The caller then instructed her to contact the Cybercrime police and transferred her to another person.
This individual identified themselves as a cybercrime police official and offered the option to communicate via Skype or visit Mumbai to file a formal complaint. Opting for a Skype call, the conversation abruptly ended, followed by the sender forwarding a Skype link. During the Skype call, the scammers requested her documents and alleged that three bank accounts had been established in her name for money laundering and Hawala activities.
To reinforce their claims, they shared an image of a detained individual whom they deemed a suspect in her case. As a supposed confirmation, the scammers instructed her to transfer money to the three accounts they provided. Fearing the situation, she complied and sent money to all three accounts. Eventually, she realized that she had fallen prey to cyber criminals. Realizing the scam, the woman reported the incident to the police.