Unmasking the Fraud: How I Almost Fell Victim to a Clever Impersonation
Alright, I’ve got a story to tell today. It’s not fiction. It’s real, something, that happened to me today.
Randomly, out of nowhere, I received a call from a number identified as ‘FedEx Courier Service’ on TrueCaller. I answered the call, and the IVR said something I couldn’t understand. However, it gave me an option to connect with customer service for more information. I thought they could explain what’s going on.
I asked her why am I receiving this call. She said a courier is booked in my name from Mumbai destined to Canada. I was like, WHAT! She said it is held in customs because of its content. It has a few passports, SIM cards and ATMs.
It gave me the impression of identify theft because she said one cannot book an international courier without a valid identify proof i.e., Aadhaar card and PAN card. I was convinced that someone is using my identity for committing a crime. I expressed the same to her and asked to share more information. To which, she gave me the sender’s and receiver’s address details.
That’s not all, she advised me to file a complaint with the police if I believed it to be fraud. Something I failed to notice during the call but realize now is the sense of panic and urgency she created by suggesting that the courier would be handed over to the nearby police station, and I better raise a complaint before it happens the other way around.
Surprisingly, she offered to transfer the call directly to the police station where the case would be registered.
I was put on hold. The IVR stated, ‘Your call is being transferred to Ghatkopar Police Station’. A person answered the call, speaking in a native Mumbai accent. He heard the complete story, noted down all the information I got from the customer service lady. He heard it so patiently, I did not expect that from a police officer in India.
The police officer emphasized that he was speaking from Ghatkopar Cyber Crime Cell, and asked me if I could to Mumbai to file the complaint. And I couldn’t. Further, he said the line I’m connected to is the emergency line of Cyber Cell and that’s why he will go ahead with remote filing. For this, I would have to verify that no one else is raising this complaint on my behalf, and I’m raising it under no external pressure. To do this, he would give me a video call on WhatsApp in 5 mins. He gave me a number that he called as the official police station number, from which he’ll make a video call. I checked it on TrueCaller, it was identified as Ghatkopar Police Station.
He provided some instructions for the call. I have to use the back camera first to show him that no one is around, and I’m alone in the room. And I’ve to show my Aadhaar card on the call. In the call, he will share a case code that I have to share to the local police station, from whom I’ll receive a call within 24 hours. After the call, he’ll share the copy of the case file with FedEx and me.
I came to my room to pick up the documents. That’s when my wife said, what if this whole thing is just a scam? How do you know if the police officer is genuine? I was stumped. She asked me to call the local police station to check the authenticity before proceeding further. I immediately called Chandigarh Cyber Cell and shared the incident. They swiftly confirmed it be a fraud.
The fraudster called me twice on WhatsApp first and then called on the phone from the same number. I did not pick calls and blocked both the numbers. I’ve labeled the numbers as fraud on TrueCaller so others could get alerted and not fall for it.
It is interesting how an app that is used to identify fraud / spam calls is used by fraudster to gain victim’s trust. Because in the first place, I trusted the call as genuine because TrueCaller showed it so.
Let’s join hands and label these numbers as fraud on TrueCaller as fast as possible before these scammers deceive someone and take away their hard earned money.
- +2225153543
- 09919821444