In yet another case of a fake parcel scam, a 76-year-old retired resident of south Mumbai fell prey to a complex online scam in which he lost Rs 1.8 crore. In this scam, people posing as officials of a courier company and the customs department called the victim and informed him about an illegal parcel in his name and then threatened him and swindled money from him.

According to a Hindustan Times report, the scam reportedly began on March 19 when the victim received a call from someone claiming to be an executive of a courier company. The caller told the victim that a parcel in his name, which he had allegedly sent to Myanmar, had been seized by custom officials. He informed that the parcel contained 150 grams of MDMA, 4 kg of clothes, a laptop and 20 fake passports. Shocked and confused, the retired man denied sending any such parcel.

However, taking advantage of the victim’s fear, the caller claimed that the parcel was sent using the person’s Aadhaar card details. The caller warned the victim that engaging in such illegal activities could lead to serious legal consequences, including a possible First Information Report (FIR) being filed against him. To avoid this, the caller suggested that the victim could settle the matter by paying a substantial amount.

Initially, the victim refused to pay the money and said he wanted to approach the police. But the fraudsters called him again and this time introduced him to another person claiming to be a police officer from Alambagh police station in Lucknow. The police inspector further told the victim that it was a complicated case of cyber fraud and suggested involving an alleged cyber police officer.

The alleged cyber police officer then transferred the call to a man posing as a CBI officer, who directed the victim to communicate with him via Telegram, a secure messaging app. Once connected, the officer continued the fraud, adding the victim to a group chat and asking for personal details including identity documents and bank statements. He threatened the elderly man with serious legal consequences, including imprisonment and loss of social standing.

Finally, fed up with the constant calls and panicked by the situation, the victim transferred Rs 1.8 crore from his fixed deposit to the fake CBI officer’s account between March 21 and April 22, 2024. As soon as the funds were transferred, the Telegram group was deleted and the victim realised he had been cheated.

While this is not the first case of such a scam, the manner in which the scammers threatened the elderly raises concerns about how clever these scammers have become. To protect themselves from such scams, individuals should be cautious and careful when receiving unsolicited communications involving personal or financial information. Most importantly, if one receives such a call, one should verify the identity before sending any money to an unknown person.