<p>Bengaluru: Scamsters posing as Mumbai police and using the name of former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik conned a 28-year-old businessman in the Bengaluru Rural district after accusing him of money laundering. </p>.<p>The victim Ramesh S R (name changed), a resident of Hoskote, lost nearly Rs 5 lakh before he realised that he was taken for a ride. According to Ramesh, on February 2 at around 1 pm, he received an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) call from “FedEx courier customer care”. When he proceeded with the call, a person claiming to be a representative of the American multinational firm, allegedly told him that a package in his name containing methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) tablets — a prohibited narcotic — was intercepted in Mumbai. </p>.<p>Despite his defence that he had sent no such package, he was allegedly connected with the crime branch of the Mumbai police, where an “officer” began his interrogation online after he was made to download Skype. “The person’s language and behaviour was just like that of a policeman,” Ramesh claimed. </p>.<p>The next part flummoxed Ramesh. The cop impersonator allegedly told him that his Aadhaar card was found in a money laundering trail and his arrest was imminent. Next, Ramesh was told that he was part of a gang operating for Malik, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in February 2022 in an alleged money laundering case. Malik, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA, is currently out on bail on medical grounds after spending 18 months in jail. </p>.<p>“I was terrified,” Ramesh told the police. Proceeding with the ruse, the scamsters, as part of their next step, told Ramesh to transfer all the money in his bank accounts to a “Reserve Bank of India (RBI)” stipulated account for “verification”. Ramesh sent Rs 4,99,606 to a Punjab National Bank (PNB) account after scamsters sent some documentation. </p>.<p>Ramesh then waited for the callback but to no avail. Realising that he was scammed, he reported the incident to the Bengaluru Cyber Economic and Narcotics (CEN) Crime Police Station the following day and a case was registered under relevant sections, including punishment for identity theft and cheating by personation, of the Information Technology (IT) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Investigations are on.</p>.<p><strong>FedEx statement</strong></p><p>“FedEx 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,” the company said.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Scamsters posing as Mumbai police and using the name of former Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik conned a 28-year-old businessman in the Bengaluru Rural district after accusing him of money laundering. </p>.<p>The victim Ramesh S R (name changed), a resident of Hoskote, lost nearly Rs 5 lakh before he realised that he was taken for a ride. According to Ramesh, on February 2 at around 1 pm, he received an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) call from “FedEx courier customer care”. When he proceeded with the call, a person claiming to be a representative of the American multinational firm, allegedly told him that a package in his name containing methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) tablets — a prohibited narcotic — was intercepted in Mumbai. </p>.<p>Despite his defence that he had sent no such package, he was allegedly connected with the crime branch of the Mumbai police, where an “officer” began his interrogation online after he was made to download Skype. “The person’s language and behaviour was just like that of a policeman,” Ramesh claimed. </p>.<p>The next part flummoxed Ramesh. The cop impersonator allegedly told him that his Aadhaar card was found in a money laundering trail and his arrest was imminent. Next, Ramesh was told that he was part of a gang operating for Malik, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in February 2022 in an alleged money laundering case. Malik, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA, is currently out on bail on medical grounds after spending 18 months in jail. </p>.<p>“I was terrified,” Ramesh told the police. Proceeding with the ruse, the scamsters, as part of their next step, told Ramesh to transfer all the money in his bank accounts to a “Reserve Bank of India (RBI)” stipulated account for “verification”. Ramesh sent Rs 4,99,606 to a Punjab National Bank (PNB) account after scamsters sent some documentation. </p>.<p>Ramesh then waited for the callback but to no avail. Realising that he was scammed, he reported the incident to the Bengaluru Cyber Economic and Narcotics (CEN) Crime Police Station the following day and a case was registered under relevant sections, including punishment for identity theft and cheating by personation, of the Information Technology (IT) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Investigations are on.</p>.<p><strong>FedEx statement</strong></p><p>“FedEx 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,” the company said.</p>