FedEx courier scam: A tale of terror, trickery, and deceit

Bengaluru: At around 11.30 am on November 16, Ganesh Desai (name changed on request), was working from home when he received a call from a man, who identified as a manager with FedEx courier service. The call soon took a turn for the worse as the 42-year-old techie from Bengaluru lost Rs 29.63 lakh and became the latest victim of the ‘FedEx courier scam’.

Rahul Sharma, the caller, told Desai that a package in his name confiscated by Mumbai Customs contained illegal items like drugs. Sharma then transferred the call to “Mumbai police”, despite Desai pleading innocence.

The second person identified himself as a Mumbai police officer, revealed his badge number and told Desai to install Skype to record his video statement as a part of the investigation. Both “spoke professionally” with Desai in English.

Desai was then connected with a “narcotics officer” on Skype. The purported officer told Desai that the video had to be on all the time, asked him to be alone in the room and never appeared on camera as “it was not part of the probe”.

“At one point, my wife entered the room and shouted at the caller, who told me to send her away or she and my child would also be booked,” Desai told DH.

“It scared me stiff,” he said.

After confirming that no one else was in the room, Desai was told that his Aadhaar was “used for terror activities”. He was then sent a “case document” claiming that his bank account was used to launder money.

The “officer” also threatened Desai that his account would be frozen unless he transferred money to an “RBI account” in Gujarat, which would be credited back after verification. A replica of the Mumbai police website was shared with Desai over Skype, “revealing the case details where he was one of the accused”.

A petrified Desai reached out to his bank, as directed, and deposited the cheque, only to know later that he was duped. Desai was online on Skype from 12 pm to 6.45 pm before the scamster ceased communication.

‘Game played on fear’

Karnataka CID chief Dr M A Saleem told DH, “It is important to immediately inform the local police. If a person is not involved in any illegal activity, there is nothing to fear. Law enforcement agencies send proper written notices in case of a probe, document retrieval or summon someone. No investigation happens over a phone or video call. The central agencies have their local units in the states to deal with cases.”

Raman Gupta, Additional Commissioner of Police (East), said, “Due diligence is important. The receiver should tell the caller to give the details and that they will get back after verifying it. After this, the scamsters won’t call back as their plan is foiled. There is no provision where someone can be digitally arrested.”

Over 100 cases so far

Data accessed by DH revealed that 111 cases of FedEx courier scams, which came to the fore only this year, were registered until November 2023. The most cases were at the Whitefield Cyber Economic and Narcotics Crime (CEN) police station (32), followed by East CEN (20), Southeast CEN (18), South CEN (16), Northeast CEN (9), North CEN (6), Central CEN (5) and West CEN (5).

Saidulu Adavath, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), whose team was the first to arrest eight people allegedly involved in the FedEx scam recently, said that mule accounts played a key role. 

“While the eight were not the main perpetrators, they played a key role in setting up the mule bank accounts to transfer the proceeds of the crime and then withdraw it,” Adavath said. 

“We found out that the arrested, who were the second layer of the fraud, bought US cryptocurrencies and handed them over to the main fraudsters for Indian rupees in return,” he added. 

A FedEx statement said the company 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,” it added. 

How to be safe?

Be wary of unknown calls – avoid responding to them

Ask the caller for courier details and verify it on the official FedEx website

Never share personal, sensitive information like Aadhaar and bank details

Don’t transfer money even if the caller insists or threatens

Never believe everything the caller claims when you know you are innocent

End the call immediately when you sense something suspicious and inform the police