Fake drug parcel scam: Pune woman working with IT company duped of Rs 6.99 lakh by cyber criminals

The woman, a resident of Balewadi, lodged a first information report (FIR) at the Chaturshringi police station.

The police said the complainant received a call on her phone on April 18 from a person claiming to be some courier service staffer and said they have received a parcel sent by her, which has drugs. The person told the woman that a police complaint has been lodged about the drug parcel.

The woman replied that she never sent any parcel to anyone. The person then asked the woman to speak to the police and soon her call was transferred to another person, who claimed to be a police officer.

The second person, posing as a policeman, told the woman to download Skype on her phone. The woman was further asked to share an image of her Aadhar card. After the woman shared it, the fake policeman told her that four criminals are misusing her Aadhar card, hence the police want to conduct an inquiry about her bank accounts.

The imposter then asked the woman to transfer all her money and an account in the ICICI bank. She was told that the money will be transferred back to her bank account after the investigation is over.

The woman then transferred Rs 6,99,529 into an ICICI bank account, as per the instructions of the imposter.

Later, she came to know that it was an online fraud. She then filed a complaint with the police. “The complainant works with a private company in the IT sector. After verifying, an FIR has been lodged against the accused persons. Investigation is on,” said inspector Ankush Chintaman, the investigating officer.

The police have booked the unidentified accused under Sections 419 (cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Information Technology Act. The police are probing the mobile number from which the complainant received the fraudulent call and also the ICICI bank account to which she had transferred the money.