Gift Parcel Scam: Tata Hospital doctor duped of Rs 8.13 lakh by fraudsters posing as Customs, RBI Officials

Mumbai: A 40-year-old senior doctor from Tata Hospital filed a First Information Report (FIR) at Bhoiwada police station after he allegedly fell victim to a gift parcel scam losing Rs 8.13 lakh to fraudsters.

According to the police, the doctor lost his money periodically but realised that he was cheated when the fraudsters demanded Rs 10 lakh in relation to the scam.

The alleged fraud took place when the doctor received a friend request from a woman on social media on May 5, this year. The woman claimed herself as Paisley Macias. Initially, the doctor accepted the woman's friend request. Following this, they exchanged WhatsApp numbers.

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When the duo started talking on WhatsApp, the woman claimed herself to be working with the American Army and stationed in Ukraine. Then the woman informed the doctor on May 11 that she was sending him a gift containing approximately 2,825 US dollars and shared the image of the gift packet on WhatsApp. She then informed him that the parcel would arrive on May 13.

As per a TOI news report, the doctor on May 13 was contacted by a woman who identified herself as a Customs official at Mumbai International Airport. She informed him that a package from Ukraine had been delivered in his name and that he was required to pay 450 US dollars (Rs 37,500 approx). The doctor paid the amount.

The demands didn’t stop there; the doctor few days later received another call from a woman asking him to pay ₹87,500 as a money laundering clearance charge following which the doctor paid the amount in a bank account provided by the woman.

A police officer working in this case told HT, “He received a call from a woman posing as a customs official at Mumbai Airport, who asked him to deposit ₹37,500 to receive his parcel. Later, he was asked to pay Rs 87,500 as a money laundering clearance charge. She then informed him that the parcel would be sent to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the US dollars to be converted into Indian currency and deposited into his bank account."

To make the scam more convincing, the doctor received an email from an address resembling the RBI’s, asking for ₹1.88 lakh as a currency exchange charge and an additional ₹5 lakh as a transfer cost.

However, the doctor realised the scam and approached the police when the fraudsters demanded Rs 10 lakh. Accordingly, he filed a complaint against the unknown fraudsters and a case has been registered in this regard.

“They kept asking him to pay more, claiming each time it was the last charge, and that he had already paid so much that if he didn’t pay now, all his money would be lost. The woman, posing as a US Army officer, also assured him that the parcel contained a lot of money, which would solve his problems once received,” the police officer added.

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