Courier scam: Mangaluru woman duped of Rs 6.8 lakh

Mangaluru: A 44-year-old woman from the city has fallen victim to an elaborate courier (parcel) scam, where fraudsters posing as international cargo agents duped her of Rs 6.84 lakh by promising delivery of a high-value parcel allegedly sent by her husband working abroad.According to the complaint, the victim's husband is employed in Dubai and regularly sends parcels containing household items. On April 21, the complainant received a WhatsApp call from an international number, where the caller claimed that her husband sent a parcel and instructed it to be routed through a cargo service. On April 27, the caller contacted her again, stating that the parcel contained gold, British pounds, a diamond watch and a bag, collectively valued at around Rs 5.5 crore, and was shipped via air cargo. The next day, she was asked to contact another number regarding delivery. When she called, she was told to pay Rs 1,10,500 as customs charges, which she transferred. On April 29, the fraudsters demanded Rs 4.4 lakh as GST charges. When she hesitated, they convinced her to pay half the amount, Rs 2.2 lakh, which she complied with. On April 30, she was again asked to pay the remaining GST amount of Rs 2.2 lakh along with Rs 30,000 as documentation charges. Believing the claims, she deposited Rs 2.5 lakh into a bank account. Later the same day, the scammers claimed that the parcel contained one lakh British pounds that needed to be converted into Indian currency, for which they demanded Rs 3.8 lakh. When she refused, they persuaded her to pay Rs 1 lakh, promising that Rs 32 lakh would be delivered to her by evening. She transferred the amount to another bank account. However, no parcel was ever delivered. Realising she had been cheated, the complainant stated that unidentified individuals fraudulently collected a total of Rs 6.8 lakh from her in different stages. Mangaluru East police have registered a case.