Hyderabad: “My ordeal began with a phone call on May 7. An individual, who claimed to belong to the police department, said that a parcel in my name was found to have drugs. I told all my personal information without any mistakes. From that day onwards, I could not sleep, eat or think properly for 20 days,” recalled a victim of courier scam from Hyderabad.
“As they had my shipment and delivery details, I believed him to be the real police officer. I did not know that I had become a target of a cyber crime. He warned me that if I did not cooperate, I could face serious legal consequences. So I confined myself to home for the next 20 days,” the victim said, requesting anonymity.
The cyber criminals, the victim said, wanted him to remain online around the clock to avoid arrest. “Initially, I was told to send Rs 30 lakh. Demands continued to pour in every day. By the end of 20 days, I paid them Rs 1.2 crore from saving accounts and credit cards,” he said.
“Each day was a nightmare. I could not leave my house. I could not stay away from my phone, whether I was in the bathroom or sleeping. Stress and fear overwhelmed me. I felt trapped and isolated and was unable to reach out for help due to the constant threats from scamsters. My wife, kids and I were all mentally devastated. My neighbours were not allowed to see us as per their instructions. We were confined to home,” he said, adding that on the seventh or eighth day, the victim thought of ending his life, but his wife made him come of suicidal thoughts.
Several innocent people were falling prey to the courier scams, who try to buy peace by huge sums of money to escape from alleged prosecution for having drugs in their shipments. This scam is designed to cheat people and cash in on their fear of the police and legal process, even though they had not committed any crime. In terms of gender, women are often the target of these scamsters.
In 2023, people lost Rs 1,200 crore in such scams. In just five months of this year, people have already lost more than Rs 1,500 crore.
According to cyber expert Praveen Tangella, the only way to avoid falling prey to such scams is to use commonsense. One should think if a police officer would have time to Skype with you for hours or days. Would any officer ask for money online? Is there any law that allows for online anticipatory bail without you appearing in person in the court? The scammers just try to scare you to get your money.
He said if you feel that you are trapped, you must go to the nearest police station and lodge a complaint.
Cyberabad Cyber crime ACP B. Ravinder Reddy said, "When you receive a call from police claiming that your parcel had drugs, it is simply a fraud. We are always trying to reach the public with awareness programmes but it is painful to see educated people becoming victims and losing lakhs and crores of rupees to scamsters.”
