FPJ Cyber Secure: 70-Year-Old Mumbai Man Falls Prey To 'Drugs In Parcel' Fraud; Loses ₹3.5 lakh To Scamsters

A 70-year-old man fell victim to 'drugs in parcel' fraud after scammers posing as law enforcement officials claimed that a parcel addressed to him contained illegal substances. The perpetrators, during a video call, presented themselves in police uniforms and duped him of Rs 3.5 lakh

Virendra Shroff, who works in manufacturing machine tools and parts, received a call from someone purporting to be associated with Lucknow Customs. The caller alleged that they had intercepted a 4 kg parcel in Shroff’s name, containing clothes, a laptop, and 150 gram of mephedrone (MD) drugs. The caller asserted that the parcel was destined for John David in Myanmar, prompting an investigation that required Shroff's presence in Lucknow.

Subsequently, Shroff received another call from a person identifying himself as Dinesh Kumar, supposedly from Gomti Nagar police station in Lucknow. Kumar informed Shroff of a complaint against him and initiated a 54-minute video call to record Shroff’s statement. He was told to reveal personal information, including Aadhaar card details.

The scammers falsely accused Shroff of transferring Rs 38 crore through hawala, claiming a commission of Rs 3.8 crore. Exploiting fear tactics, they informed Shroff that the CBI was taking notice, demanding money to avoid legal consequences and induced him to transfer Rs 3.5 lakh to the specified bank account.

Shroff realised he had been deceived after revealing the incident to his family. Promptly reporting the matter to the Marine Drive Police, an FIR was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 170 (personating a public servant), 34(common intention), 419(cheats by personation), 420(Cheating) and the IT Act.