28-year-old woman falls for ‘tiger skin in parcel’ scam, loses Rs 5.5 lakh

The incident took place in August last year and an FIR in the case was registered on Sunday at Hadapsar police station, following an initial inquiry conducted by the cyber crime police station.

According to the complainant, she initially received a call claiming to be executives of a well known courier company. The caller said the parcel sent by her to Malaysia has been intercepted and a tiger skin has been found in it. The woman told the caller she had not sent any parcel.

She was told that an FIR had been lodged against her at Byculla police station. She was made to make a video call and the receiver claimed that he was ‘inspector Sandeep Singh’ who not only showed his ‘identity card’ but also an ‘FIR for the charges of trafficking animal parts.’

An officer from Hadapsar police station said subsequently the woman was made to transfer Rs 5.54 lakh to various fraudulent accounts in multiple transactions on the pretext of various legal formalities to avoid police action against her. After realising that she has been cheated, she approached the cyber crime police station and an FIR was registered at Hadapsar police station on Sunday.

Officers said the modus operandi is almost the same as the ‘drugs in parcel’ scams. In these scams, the victims are contacted by fake international courier service executives who claim that drugs have been found in parcels addressed to them. 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 also by claiming that their bank accounts are at risk from hackers. Callers often intimidate victims, claiming they’re under surveillance. Over three dozen such cases have been registered in Pune since January last year.