[ABHI_1512]

And then this happened to a lawyer (of all people)

[arnieshwartz]

Originally Posted by drive2eternity

Today afternoon I got a random call, it started with an IVR stating this call is from Department of Telecom, all my phone numbers are being blocked in next 2 hours. If I need to know more, press 9.

Got this call two days ago while driving. I couldnt really hear the IVR message properly, but I did press 9 to continue. A lady came on, spewed the same nonsense about pending disconnect of phone numbers etc etc but interestingly, she disconnected as soon as I mentioned that I'm driving.

Blocked the number and havent had a repeat call since.

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

And then this happened to a lawyer

This is what is surprising.

A lawyer, a Bengalurean!

Don't people read newspapers or keep track of things happening around them? Basic common sense would prevent anyone from even getting on a video call with strangers - forget about stripping and exposing oneself! Although I sympathize with the victim, I squarely fail to make sense of her irrational response to virtual pressure and blackmail.

But I speak with the benefit of hindsight and the insularity of an onlooker; doing so solely on the basis of newspaper reports. With the standards of journalism nosediving these days, one invariably ends up wondering whether the crux of the matter has somehow been missed or under/over/misreported.

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

This is what is surprising.

It's surprising but many people get overwhelmed in such situations and can't think rationally :(

For some reason, reminded of this movie based on real life incident:

Compliance:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1971352/

Just bad stuff all around.

[arnieshwartz]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

For some reason, reminded of this movie based on real life incident:

Compliance:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1971352/

I remember watching this movie in disbelief of what was happening. I couldnt believe that it was based on a true story. I mean, how could a group of people be so stupid!

This movie is a reminder to everyone that they should question and/or reject demands which seem to go beyond the bounds of the law and good sense.

[RoadTiger]

Had received a call from a number that said 'Fedex center' or something on Truecaller and picked up - knowing fully well about this scam - to play along.

Guy who was speaking in English with a distinct Haryanvi accent - introduced himself as from Fedex and mentioned that a parcel I had sent last week was undelivered. I asked 'ok so where did I send this to'. He asked me to stay online to check system details and responded back 30 seconds later that this has been returned from Thailand. At that stage, I thanked him for letting me know, cut the call and blocked the number.

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

This is what is surprising.

A lawyer, a Bengalurean!

Don't people read newspapers or keep track of things happening around them? Basic common sense would prevent anyone from even getting on a video call with strangers - forget about stripping and exposing oneself! Although I sympathize with the victim, I squarely fail to make sense of her irrational response to virtual pressure and blackmail.

But I speak with the benefit of hindsight and the insularity of an onlooker; doing so solely on the basis of newspaper reports. With the standards of journalism nosediving these days, one invariably ends up wondering whether the crux of the matter has somehow been missed or under/over/misreported.

I feel this only goes on to show how much trust the ordinary citizens have in our police. If we had a good policing system, anyone would have shown the finger to these fake callers.

[Sedate driver]

Insurance scam?

10 years back I had purchased a policy from Max Life and it matures in the year 2033. 2 weeks back my wife got a call from a lady saying she is from Max Life customer care and informed that a fund of Rs. 198000 has been allocated to our policy as bonus. She was asking whether we are interested in claiming that fund. My wife passed on the call to me and I was surprised to find that she was telling the policy number, file number, last payment made date and amount, agent name etc. So now she started telling that if we don't claim the funds now, it will be automatically credited to the agent. Now I said her that the agent is currently not with Max life and what to do next. She said some other person name and he has been nominated as agent for our policy and he will be getting the amount in case if we don't claim it. She kept telling that the type of bonus is type of non guaranteed funds and company will not inform us and only agent has the responsibility to inform us. She was repeatedly telling if the current agent is not in touch, the funds will be transferred to the new agent only and we will lose it. I asked her to send an email regarding the same and I will take appropriate action with the company for which she said they don't have to send email and will inform only through phone. Then she said I need to speak to her manager regarding this and after some time that guy called. In the mean time my wife got OTP from Max life for logging into the account. The guy who called now asked for the OTP for which I refused. When I asked him why he is asking for logging into my account, immediately he started the same story and told me that if I need to get the bonus amount, I have to register with IRDA to become an agent and to become an agent I need to buy a policy initially. By now I got fed up and disconnected the call saying I am not interested in getting the bonus. Few days back the same lady called my wife telling the same story again. I am not sure of what is the motive behind this. I suspect they must have got the policy details by some means and thereby calling the unsuspecting customers to trap them in the guise of bonus funds.

[CentreOfGravity]

My father got the exact same kind of call a few days ago from this number and I cannot believe that we almost got fooled: +91 721 840 1646

The drill was the same as in the opening post - a very professional "FedEx employee" called my dad and told him that a package which was to be sent from Mumbai to Taiwan using his Aadhar card was held back at Mumbai. It apparently contained 5 kg clothes, a laptop weighing 1 kg, bank credit cards, some other stuff and 200 g of MDMI, which is an illegal drug. My dad was obviously shocked hearing this. The employee gave all the details of the parcel including the parcel number, sender's address, receiver's address and the last four digits of the credit card used in some related transaction. He even gave his employee details including his employee ID, name and another phone number through which he could contact him personally for any assistance. He then told my dad that he would connect him to the Mumbai Cyber Cell. In hindsight, the fact that the employee connected the call to the Mumbai Cyber Cell quickly (which is in no way related to FedEx) was supposed to be a red flag, but we didn't think about it because we thought there could exist a department in FedEx which dealt with such cases. After a while, a male "police officer" took the phone and my dad gave him all the details. He asked many questions about my dad's work, whereabouts in the last 6 months, mom's job, etc. Up until now, everything seemed genuine. However, when he asked for the officer's name, he was reluctant to tell him. Only after asking once more did he tell a name (which was probably fake). This was the first red flag. After questioning him, he said that there are two ways to file a complaint - either he had to go to Mumbai to file an FIR or he had to come on a Skype call to record a video statement. Going to Mumbai wasn't convenient as he had to go abroad in a week, and he couldn't join from Skype as it had been years since he opened it and had forgotten the password. So, my dad asked whether he could join through some other platform, but the officer immediately denied and told him that he had to come on Skype only, and that too all alone in a closed room. This was the second (and biggest) red flag. Why the strict instructions that he had to join alone? Dad sensed something was wrong and put him on hold saying that he would get back in a while after trying to open Skype. He then called up his friend who is in the Kerala Cyber Cell department and narrated the incident so far. His friend told him that there is a chance that it is a scam, and asked him to get the telephone number of the Mumbai Cyber Cell department from the officer itself. My dad agreed and did so, but the officer said that it would be available online and refused to provide a number. This was the third red flag. It was only when my dad insisted that he gave a number (which is, again, probably fake / he might have quickly Googled it - I'm just guessing). My dad said that he was busy then, and he would call him later on the given number to do the Skype call. After he disconnected, my dad immediately went online, searched up FedEx's official helpline number, called them and reported this incident, to which the person on the line said that it was a scam. Even the employee ID and parcel number were fake. Thus it was confirmed. My dad never called him again. However, it didn't end here. My grandmother got a missed call barely minutes after the first call was disconnected. I saw that the phone number was exactly the same and showed it to my dad. We obviously didn't call him back.

The most shocking part is the way the scammers, be it the FedEx employee or the police officer, spoke so professionally. The way the officer reacted when my dad mentioned MDMI, the way he asked the questions, the way the FedEx employee convincingly explained the situation – I heard the entire conversation, and as much as I hate to admit it, their acting was brilliant. Even my experienced and updated dad almost believed them. I had come across this thread before, but somehow it never crossed my mind during the call. Guys, please be careful with such calls and keep your sensitive details confidential. The way scammers are improving these days is truly distressing and unbelievable.

[DigitalOne]

Looks like govt and FedEx have started taking some action.

Just now got an official SMS stating "FedEx does not connect you with fake law enforcement officials regarding a parcel. Do not respond to unsolicited requests for payment or information."

[AltoLXI]

Need suggestion on how to proceed with recovering the money frozen in the scam incident. Here is what has happened.

A close friend of mine has lost close to 8 lakhs last week to FedEx scam within three hours. He has then called 1930 and raised a complaint, post which he has received an SMS from cyber crime police stating that the complaint has been registered and the entire amount has been frozen in the bank account. He was asked to contact the nearest cyber police station. He visited the station last week and was asked to get the court order to get the amount released. BUT the police have told him to come this week and will let him know how much money he can get back.

He is now suspecting they are expecting bribe and does not know how to proceed.

Any suggestions from members so that I can convey to him how he can go ahead?

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

Need suggestion on how to proceed with recovering the money frozen in the scam incident.

He should go to his bank, where the funds were debited. The bank will have the beneficiary's details; he can go to the other bank. Chances are there might be multiple accounts. Also, the Bank may need a copy of FIR before sharing such details. So, he should check with the Bank on how to handle this. Given how widespread the nuisance is now, I am sure the right person at the Bank should be able to help.

On another note, I got a call a few days back and continued listening for a while. Thereafter, I gave them some choicest of delicacies in Punjabi/ Haryanvi. I don't even remember when was the last time I used so many abuses Next time, I am going to do a Skype session probably and make a TikTok

[SidTheChamp]

Originally Posted by Sedate driver

Insurance scam?

I am not sure of what is the motive behind this. I suspect they must have got the policy details by some means and thereby calling the unsuspecting customers to trap them in the guise of bonus funds.

Obviously it's a scam. And this scam of Max life insurance has come in the news too. They will approach with some benefit and once you give them details and OTP, your policy will be withdrawn and the amount will go to the account number given by the scammers. I remember getting such a call and I straightaway denied.
There must be some insider involved else they won't have got the customer details.

From personal experience, I know very well that Banks and Financial institute and their agents will run after you when they need to get money(investments, policy etc.) from you , but when you need to get the money, you need to run after them.
So if someone calls you offering money benefits, be alert

[binand]

Another set of victims of the FedEx scam:

https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kera...dea-about.html

[Fuldagap]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

Need suggestion on how to proceed with recovering the money frozen in the scam incident. Here is what has happened.

A close friend of mine has lost close to 8 lakhs last week to FedEx scam within three hours. He has then called 1930 and raised a complaint, post which he has received an SMS from cyber crime police stating that the complaint has been registered and the entire amount has been frozen in the bank account. He was asked to contact the nearest cyber police station. He visited the station last week and was asked to get the court order to get the amount released. BUT the police have told him to come this week and will let him know how much money he can get back.

He is now suspecting they are expecting bribe and does not know how to proceed.

Any suggestions from members so that I can convey to him how he can go ahead?

Escalate to RBI ombudsman. Also escalate on CPGRAMS.
Leave emails to the concerned bank's email ids for such cases. Have a proper trail ready.

Police has been handling so many such cases, many fraudsters get away bribing the police too. Like your money is blocked, the fraudsters' monies get blocked too. Then they bribe their way through police/banks.