Indian Embassy in Beijing warns Indians of calls from extortionists

BEIJING: The Indian Embassy here has cautioned expatriate Indians residing in China to beware of extortionists posing as embassy officials who falsely accuse people of visa violations and demand money as penalties.

An urgent notice posted on the embassy's website said it has been brought to the notice of the mission that anonymous calls are being made to Indian nationals and persons of Indian origin here accusing them of committing violations of visa and immigration rules and demanding that they pay penalties.

"On this pretext, the caller directs them to deposit money to a particular account. This caller identifies himself to be Anil Sharma, employee of Embassy of India, Beijing," the embassy notice said.

It said there is no such employee in the embassy by that name and the mission is not aware of any such individual.

"This is possibly the handiwork of extortionists and fraudsters and these calls are made by spoofing the number. The general public are requested to be aware of such hoaxes and immediately inform Parag Singhal, assistant consular," the embassy said.