Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The name of a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who is the police commissioner of a jurisdiction in Maharashtra, was misused to swindle a woman of 18 lakh, in yet another incident of a drugs-in-parcel scam, wherein the conmen told her that a courier in her name had been sent to Iran. A probe revealed that the cyber criminals obtained a loan of the entire amount in her name and then siphoned the money from her account.
A FIR in the case was registered at Pune city’s cyber crime police station last week by a 36-year-old woman who works for a private company. In the last week of April, when she responded to an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) call she received, the victim was told that a case against her had been registered with the ‘narcotics department’ because of a parcel sent in her name to Iran. She was told that ‘MDMA drugs’ had been recovered from the parcel. When she denied having sent any such parcel, she was told she would have to face arrest.
She was then connected on video call to an officer who identified himself with the name of a senior IPS officer currently serving as police commissioner. The officer told the victim in the video call that her bank account was misused for illegal activities. She was forced into giving information and access details of her bank account. She was told that a large sum would be deposited into her account for verification, which she will have to immediately transfer to ‘beneficiary accounts.’ Sometime later, she received Rs 18.45 lakh in her account. The ‘officer’ then gave her details of a bank account and asked her to transfer the entire amount to it. She transferred Rs 18.45 lakh as instructed.
She soon realised that she had been cheated and approached the bank. She was told by bank officials that a loan of Rs 18.45 lakh had been taken in her name and then she had been tricked into transferring the same amount to the crooks. Thereupon, she approached the police and lodged an FIR.
Officials said that all the latest drugs-in-parcel scams have started with IVR calls along with recorded messages. In such scams, the victims receive the IVR message and are then connected to fake international courier service executives. These executives claim drugs have been found in parcels sent by victims to foreign countries. They are told about police involvement and are told to communicate via Skype with fake profiles posing as law enforcement. Fraudsters impersonate IPS officers to further deceive victims. They coerce victims into transferring money for various reasons, including customs fees or legal charges, and by also claiming that their bank accounts are at risk from hackers. Callers often intimidate victims, claiming they’re under surveillance. Both Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad police have reported dozens of these Cyber crime cases since last year.
