A retired Lieutenant Colonel residing in Vasanth Nagar, identified as Devansh (name changed), fell victim to a sophisticated scam involving fraudulent representations as FedEx officials. According to a complaint filed with the East CEN crime police on July 5, Devansh lost ₹73 lakh in the incident.
The deception began on June 13 when Devansh received a call from an unknown number posing as a FedEx executive, as reported by The Times of India. The caller falsely claimed that a parcel addressed to Devansh contained illicit items such as passports and drugs. Alleging that a case had been filed against him with the Delhi police, the caller indicated that an officer would contact him shortly.
Shortly thereafter, Devansh received a WhatsApp video call from an individual claiming to be a senior police officer. This scammer, dressed in police attire and appearing to be in a police station, deceitfully informed Devansh that his Aadhaar details were linked to a money laundering case and that he was under digital surveillance.
To avoid arrest and trusting the bogus “officer,” Devansh was coerced into a Skype call to facilitate his “digital arrest.” Under false pretenses of an investigation supposedly sanctioned by the Supreme Court, Devansh transferred ₹73 lakh to five different bank accounts by June 26, according to the report.
Realizing he had been defrauded when the promised refund did not materialize, Devansh promptly reported the incident to the authorities. A senior officer disclosed that they managed to freeze ₹30 lakh from the fraudsters’ accounts and are actively investigating to recover the remaining funds and apprehend the perpetrators.
Incidents like these, involving courier-related scams, are increasingly common in Bengaluru. Recently, a 30-year-old employee from a local private company was duped out of ₹1.9 crore in a similar scheme. In response to these cases, courier firm FedEx clarified in April that it never solicits personal information from clients through any communication channels.