Taking serious note of an evolving pattern of online fraud targeting passport applicants and those seeking other services related to passport seva kendras, the Regional Passport Office, Kochi, has issued an advisory asking the public to be on their guard and not fall prey to such online scamsters.
The advisory was issued after it came to notice that some applicants were receiving anonymous calls advising them to click on certain suspicious links for the dispatch of their passport/police clearance certificate (PCC).
“Applicants are advised to stay alert and not click on any suspicious links seeking additional payment for delivery of Passports/PCC. Please be informed that the Passports/PCC are NOT dispatched through any courier agency as it’s been sent only through India Post (sic),” said the advisory posted on X (previously Twitter).
Multiple incidents in which applicants were targeted and had lost significant amounts had been reported from various parts of Kerala of late.
The Thrissur police had registered a case in which a woman lost money after she clicked on a suspicious link sent by a person who called and introduced himself as a representative of a courier agency entrusted with delivering a PCC for which she had applied at a passport seva kendra through a travel agency.
App installed
After being threatened that the courier would be returned if the direction was not followed, the victim complied with it and clicked on the link following which an application was installed on her phone. Shortly thereafter, she lost money from her bank account.
“We are receiving e-mails from applicants about being approached in a similar manner and we tell them not to fall for it. So, we decided to issue an advisory clarifying categorically that passports and PCCs are delivered only through India Post. We are also planning to embark on a campaign centered on passport seva kendras to create awareness,” said Midhun T.R, Regional Passport Officer, Kochi.
In another incident, a woman from Alappuzha who had applied for name change at a passport seva kendra lost about ₹1 lakh from her bank account in a similar manner. In this case, the man, who also claimed to be from a courier agency, had sent a link on the pretext of collecting service charge for delivering the new passport with the changed name. The money she lost was found to have been withdrawn from an ATM centre in Bengaluru.
In another case, a woman from Upputhara in Idukki was duped of ₹1 lakh she had borrowed for her travel to Kuwait for a job. A similar pattern was followed in the name of the courier agency in this instance as well. In all the cases, the victims also shared the one time passwords (OTP) with the fraudsters.
India Post’s caution
The slew of incidents also prompted India Post to take to X stating that it does not request payment through SMS links for package delivery and urged people to never click on such suspicious links.
The Thrissur City police in a Facebook post warned that clicking on such suspicious links installed applications that facilitate remote access of mobile phones, exposing users’ banking passwords and card credentials.
