Hyderabad, Oct.5 (NSS): A 62-year-old retired man from Secunderabad received a phone call from someone posing as a FedEx executive manager. The caller claimed that the victim had dispatched 20kg of diabetic drugs along with 100 gram of MDMA to Dr Arman Ali in Iran through FedEx courier. The victim denied it stating that he had not dispatched any such package and did not know who Dr Arman Ali was.
The fraudster said they had already informed the Narcotics Control Bureau about the transaction and an FIR No. NCB/MUM/2024-23/624 had been issued. The fraudster connected the victim to supposed NCB authorities, who interrogated him extensively over a WhatsApp video call. During the call, a woman asked the victim to wait for a few minutes to speak with a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) from Cyber Crime.
Throughout the ordeal, the victim repeatedly asked for their credentials and details to verify their identity. The fraudsters eventually shared their identity cards but later deleted all correspondence. The individuals, dressed as police officers, threatened and interrogated the victim for over six hours, pressuring him until he transferred all his savings and Fixed Deposits (FDs).
The fraudsters claimed to know all the details about the victims’ financial accounts and forced him to disclose the balance of his FDs and bank accounts in various banks. They coerced him into transferring a sum of ₹24, 58,000 to an “RBI account,” falsely promising that the money would be returned after verification within 10 minutes. Under duress, the victim was forced to prematurely close all his FDs and transfer the funds to his ICICI account. The fraudsters continuously pressured the victim about the money transfer. They also threatened him to send a team to arrest him under the Narcotics Act, despite the victim’s denial of the accusations.
