Parcel trick: Gurgaon man cheated of Rs 5 lakh by cons posing as courier staffer, cop

GURGAON: A resident of Sector 43 was allegedly cheated of Rs 5 lakh after a caller posing as a courier company employee informed him that a parcel containing some restricted items was received in his name, police said on Wednesday.
The victim told police that he received the call on March 26. When he told the caller that the courier did not belong to him, the latter connected him to another person who identified himself as inspector Bhupender Nagar from Mumbai's Colaba police station.
“I explained to him that the courier does not belong to me and someone has used my identity to send the courier. However, he said since I was a suspect, I might be arrested. They asked me to hold the call and pretend to connect to the police headquarters. It appeared that conversation was happening on a walkie-talkie,” the victim stated in his complaint filed at the Cyber Crime police station.
Later, the fraudsters tricked him into revealing his financial details, such as his account number, etc., and threatened him with an investigation into suspected money laundering activities.
“The accused said he will arrest me and my family and put me behind bars for at least three months for investigation as he has identified money laundering activities in my account that could be linked to terrorist activities,” the complainant said.
By the end of the call, the victim had lost Rs 5 lakh from his account. Despite approaching his bank, he could not get his money back. Subsequently, he filed a case at the Cyber Crime police station, based on which the accused were booked for fraud and sections of the IT Act.
“We have formed various teams to probe the case,” the police said.
A similar case of cyber crime was reported in the city on April 14, where a resident of Sushant Lok was cheated of Rs 9 lakh under a similar pretext. In that case, too, the complaint noted that he received a call from a courier company employee regarding a parcel containing suspicious items. The caller later connected the call with another person who also identified himself as inspector Bhupender from Colaba.