Mumbai: Imposters posing as FedEX, police officials defraud Rs 15 lakhs from Borivali resident

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A 36-year-old Borivali resident recently became a victim of cyber fraud after he was targeted by a group of cyber fraudsters who posed as representatives of FedEx and police officials and siphoned off over Rs 15 lakhs. The Borivali man only realised the fraud days after the crime first happened and filed a complaint at North Cyber Police station on April 10.

The mid-day had earlier reported that in a similar case, a Goregaon man was scammed of Rs 6 lakhs but timely police intervention helped recover the amount.

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The man, a resident of Borivali's Yogi Nagar, had received a call from fraudsters posing as representatives of FedEx and they later contacted him claiming to be officers of Mumbai Cyber Police's Crime Branch in Byculla and defrauded him under the pretence of conducting an investigation.

According to the complaint, on April 6, the Borivali man was contacted through an unknown number and a computerised voice informed him that his parcel was returned to FedEx and asked the man to press 1 if he sought additional details.

Upon doing so, he was connected with the fraudster who posed as a FedEx executive and told the man that one of his parcels had been intercepted by Mumbai Customs and they recovered three Thai passports, credit cards and 140 grams of mephedrone with four kgs of clothes from it. When the Borivali man pleaded innocence, the caller threatened to transfer the call to the Byculla cyber police crime branch and later connected him with another fraudster posing to be a police official.

The fake official, under the pretence of conducting an investigation, instructed the Borivali resident to not discuss the matter with anyone over a Skype call. The official reasoned that it was a matter of national security and also said they would have to inspect his accounts under a money laundering case. The imposter then told the Borivali man to consolidate funds from various bank accounts into one and directed him to transfer it to the account provided by them with the assurance that the money would be returned upon completion of the probe and embezzled over Rs 15 lakh from him.

Trusting the imposter, the victim followed his instructions but no such reimbursement occurred. The Borivali resident later confided in a close friend and realised that he was scammed and filed a complaint.

The Cyber Police have recorded his statement and initiated an investigation after gathering all evidence regarding this matter.

FedEx says

"FedEx does not request personal information through unsolicited phone calls, mail, or email for goods being shipped or held, unless requested or initiated by customers. If any individual receives any suspicious phone calls or messages, they are advised not to provide their personal information. Instead, they should immediately contact the local law enforcement authorities within the vicinity or report to the cybercrime department of the government of India," an official statement said.