CHENNAI: In the past one month, at least 30 people have fallen prey to ‘courier scams,’ prompting banks to circulate cyber-awareness pamphlets warning their clients about the latest fraud.
Courier scammers claim to be customs officials and contact their targets over the phone. They mention a parcel booked in their name and claim that it contained narcotic drugs or some other banned substances.
They would then impersonate an official from the Mumbai police station to talk to them about possible arrest and instruct victims to transfer money to avoid arrest.
Narrating her personal experience, the daughter of a Madras high court employee said: “I received a call and the person claimed to be a customs official from Mumbai. He sounded authoritative and mentioned a parcel that contained drugs.”
The man threatened her and demanded that she transfer ₹30,000 to settle the issue. Once she obliged, the man managed to access her bank account and took away `19 lakh.
A cybercrime official said that during the conversation, the conman might have diverted the one-time password (OTP) to his number.
Officials of nationalised banks and police said scammers use various other techniques such as courier interception scams, romance scams, friend-online frauds, sextortion via video calls and online job or work- from-home scams, besides contracts to like and share YouTube clips.
“In most cases reported in and around Chennai, the victims are aged from 35 to 50.”
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