In a shocking incident, cybercriminals impersonating 'FedEx employees' scammed a Bengaluru-based female lawyer and took away ₹15 lakh from her.
A few days ago, FedEx had alerted its customers about scammers pretending to be its employees and extorting money from people.
Fake 'FedEx' callIt all started when the lawyer received a call from a person claiming to be an employee of FedEx.
The fake officer then asked the lawyer to download Skype on her device and add him to her chat.
The fake officer then transferred her call to another person, Abhishek Chauhan, who identified himself as a CBI officer.
In a shocking incident, cybercriminals impersonating 'FedEx employees' scammed a Bengaluru-based female lawyer and took away ₹15 lakh from her.
The scammers engaged her in a 36-hour long video call, coercing her into stripping under the guise of a 'narcotics test' and then extorted money from her by threatening to leak the compromising video online, Bengaluru police told CNBC-TV18.
A few days ago, FedEx had alerted its customers about scammers pretending to be its employees and extorting money from people.
"Be alert of scamsters pretending to call you from FedEx. FedEx does not call and connect you to law enforcement authorities regarding your shipment. Verify the channels FedEx uses to call customers and protect yourself from shipping frauds," FedEx India wrote on social media site X on April 4.
Be alert of scamsters pretending to call you from FedEx. FedEx does not call and connect you to law enforcement authorities regarding your shipment.
Verify the channels FedEx uses to call customers and protect yourself from shipping frauds
— FedEx India (@FedExIndia) April 4, 2024
The woman, who is 29 years old, later recounted her harrowing experience to the East CEN police officials.
Fake 'FedEx' call
It all started when the lawyer received a call from a person claiming to be an employee of FedEx. She was informed that a parcel was sent in her name to Thailand and it contained illegal substances.
Later, the person transferred the call to another individual, who presented himself as an officer of the Mumbai Police. The fake officer then asked the lawyer to download Skype on her device and add him to her chat.
She was then informed that her Aadhaar card was linked to a few serious criminal activities. The fake officer then transferred her call to another person, Abhishek Chauhan, who identified himself as a CBI officer.
'Narcotics test'
Subsequently, the fake CBI officer fabricated a case involving human trafficking, money laundering, and identity theft against the lawyer, making her share a few financial details and swearing an oath of secrecy, the report said.
Chauhan then claimed that he wished to verify her transactions and compelled the victim to transfer ₹10.7 lakh to an unknown account and make further transactions using her credit card.
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Later, the victim was even forced to strip for a fake narco test. While the scammers recorded her video, they threatened to arrest her and her family if she refused to follow their orders.
Further, they demanded an additional ₹10 lakh from the victim and threatened to sell her video online.
At this point, the lawyer immediately disconnected the call and sought police assistance.
Afterwards, a case was registered under the Information Technology Act and other laws related to extortion and cheating. The police are continuing with their investigation in this episode.
