The Coimbatore district cybercrime police have launched investigations after an ex-havildar of Indian Army and a retired assistant general manager of a nationalised bank from Coimbatore were duped of a total of ₹ 60 lakh in separate incidents of courier scam.
In the first incident, Mettupalayam resident H. Franklin, 43, who retired as a havildar from the Indian Army, was cheated of ₹25 lakh by unknown persons. Mr. Franklin, who works as a security guard in a private firm, received a video call from an unidentified person on August 19.
The caller posed as an officer of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from New Delhi and told Mr. Franklin that a parcel in the latter’s name, which contained fake passports and narcotics, was detected in Delhi.
The caller told him that a case was registered against him and an arrest warrant had been issued. The fraudster also shared a copy of a fake First Information Report. Mr. Franklin was asked to transfer all the amount in his bank account to the one shared by the fraudster for further verification.
Mr. Franklin transferred ₹ 25 lakh, which included his retirement benefits, to the bank account. He approached the district cybercrime police, after finding out that it was a scam and he had lost the money. The police have registered a case and launched an investigation.
In a similar incident, K. Gopalakrishnan, 75, of Sulur, who retired as an assistant general manager of a nationalised bank, was cheated by fraudsters of ₹ 35 lakh. He had also received a video call from an unidentified man, who impersonated a CBI officer from Mumbai. Mr. Gopalakrishnan was told that a parcel in his name was found to have been containing drugs, fake passports and SIM cards.
As in the previous incident, the imposter told Mr. Gopalakrishnan that he has been booked by the CBI and instructed him to transfer the money in his bank accounts for verification. The man transferred ₹35 lakh and later approached the cybercrime police, upon realising that it was a scam. The district cybercrime police registered a case based on his complaint and launched an investigation.
