NEW DELHI: Scammers are on the lookout for newer ways to cheat people. Now, they are not only misusing the name of big brands but are also impersonating law enforcement officers to scare you to give them money.
Geetika Rustagi, a Twitter user, recently fell victim to one such online fraud. The user described her trauma in a series of tweets on January 10, Tuesday, in which she detailed how she was duped by a man posing as an employee of FedEx, an American delivery service.
Rustagi began by explaining how she received a call from a number claiming to be from FedEx ‘customer support,’ informing her that a box related to her Aadhar ID had been flagged due to the presence of illicit products.
She was told that the parcel, which they claimed was sent from Mumbai on December 13, 2022, contained 800 gms of cannabis among other things.
Rustagi confirmed that she had not sent such a parcel because she did not even live in Mumbai. However, Rustagi was informed that her call will be routed to the Mumbai Police Cyber Cell due to the presence of prohibited materials in the delivery.
She panicked, which is a typical psychological reaction in such situations that scammers exploit.By notifying the victim that her statement was being taped, the so-called SI attempted to intimidate her. He also informed her that his department had obtained CCTV footage of the warehouse where the parcel had been dropped.
The victim described how the SI feigned to speak with his colleagues in order to determine whether her Aadhar card was being misused. He went on to warn her that her Aadhar card was being used to open multiple bank accounts at SBI, Yes Bank, and Citibank.
“Several million dollars are being laundered through these accounts, and your ID is being utilized for hawala transactions. All of this is being planned by Gerold, who has been apprehended by Mumbai Police. “The above guy supplied these screen grabs,” she added.
During the reverse image check of the man it was found the man they were claiming to be Gerold is wanted gangster Chota Shakeel’s associate Salim Fruit.
Geetika Rustagi wrote about how the fraudster skillfully induced her to believe his deception by sending her a paper that made her a party to the case and banned her from speaking to anyone.
He then inquired as to how many bank accounts I had and how much money I have. Have I recently gotten a large sum of money? Has someone approached you about opening a bank account? “He then promised me that if I cooperated, the issue will be closed in 20-30 minutes,” she tweeted.
The scammer then requested that the victim deposit Rs 95,499 to them in order for them to verify whether her accounts had been compromised and to verify account details. They told her that the money will be refunded in 15 minutes. They instructed her to stay on the line until the transaction was completed. When the victim hesitated to transfer the significant quantity and requested a guarantee, the fraudster instantly emailed her a copy of a Phonepe acceptance receipt she would receive after transferring the funds.
A closer look at the so-called acknowledgement receipt exposes how the fraudsters used a stamp similar to the original official stamp to disguise it as a valid government document When the victim refused to send the money, the imposter threatened to freeze her bank accounts for two to three years, according to her. He further threatened her by telling her she had to pay or come to the Mumbai department in person. After the victim agreed to come to Mumbai, the fraudster hung up on her.
he victim in this case was fortunate to escape the trap, but not everyone is. Despite many cybercrime arrests, many fraudsters continue to dupe unsuspecting people into giving up their money and personal information. We see these things on a daily basis, and still some people fall for them despite repeated warnings from banks, service providers, and the central bank.
