On the morning of August 1, 2023, a 36-year-old software employee lost all her savings along with the recurring deposit (RD) to a parcel scam.
Yashaswi lost a whopping ₹8,74,998 when someone claiming they are from FedEx, called to inform her parcel outbound from Mumbai to reach Taiwan was stuck in the Customs Department as it contained objectionable and illegal material. The scamsters said that she was a victim of ‘identity theft’ and asked her to send money to the Reserve Bank of India for “verification and issue clearance certificate”.
The Hyderabad Cyber Crime police, on Wednesday, arrested one person for sharing bank account information with the cyber fraudsters involved in the above mentioned case.
“The suspect Javed Nawab Yakub Khan opened a fake current account and provided the same to another absconding accused on a 10% commission which was used for the transaction of fraudulent amount,” said police official A V Ranganath.
Based on the investigation, it was found that Khan had committed fraud of about ₹2.85 crore in a single account, for which as many as 105 cases were registered all over India, 14 of which were registered in Telangana.
In a slew of FedEx parcel fraud cases in the country, the State identified over 19 persons involved in such cases, Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau (TSCSB) officials said. FedEx parcel scam cases in the State have jumped from 64 in 2022 to 645 in 2023, whereas already 64 cases have been reported in 2024, as per Shikha Goel, the Director of TSCSB. The victims across Telangana who fell prey to the parcel scams have collectively lost around ₹18.24 crore since 2022, she added.
Victims receive an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) call, intimidating them with the claim that illegal drugs are being sent via FedEx courier in their name, the officials explained. The suspects pose as Mumbai Police officials, recording the victim’s statement in a Skype call, and con the victims in the name of solving the fictitious case. The scamsters often make spoofed calls and any attempt of calling back on the number may reveal the lack of connectivity, a sign something is wrong.
The officials warned people not to believe people impersonating as Customs Department officials or police department officials, and to not pay money to get clearance on any parcels said to contain objectionable and illegal material.
