Unveiling the Courier Scam: How scammers allegedly dupe Indians from Cambodia

Guwahati, June 18: Imagine your phone rings and an unexpected voice on the other end informs you that a parcel in your name or linked to your phone number, en route to a South Asian country, has been intercepted by the customs department in Mumbai. They claim the package contains objectionable items and urge you to respond immediately and cooperate with the authorities. Panic sets in, and you comply with every instruction, desperate to resolve the confusing situation. In your haste, you unknowingly divulge personal information, step-by-step, becoming entangled in a sophisticated con known as ‘courier scam’ or, more precisely, ‘FedEx Courier Scam’.

The cargo company, FedEx has consistently reiterated its standard operating procedures and issued cautionary notices. However, this emerging scam in India has already duped countless individuals, with scammers swindling people out of crores of rupees through their elaborate moves.

A journalist from The Assam Tribune has recently countered the scammers; what we learned at the end of the conversation was shocking. Here’s how things unfolded:

The journalist received a suspicious call from someone claiming to be a FedEx employee. The caller informed the journalist that a parcel had been held by the customs department in Mumbai, allegedly containing five passports, three credit cards, 4 kg clothes, 1 laptop and 140 gm MDMA, a type of illegal drug. The caller also mentioned that the journalist’s phone number was linked to the parcel. When the journalist denied any knowledge of the parcel, the caller suggested registering a complaint and offered to connect him to the Mumbai Police Crime Branch.

A subsequent call came from someone posing as a police officer, who enquired about the journalist’s alleged belongings in the courier and insisted on doing a video call via Skype. Interestingly, a man in a police uniform was also available for a conversation in the Skype call. The apprehensive journalist tried to deceive them by citing network issues. When the call got disconnected and the journalist attempted to call back, a different person from Punjab, unaware of the situation, answered the call and hung up, saying it was a wrong number. By then, it was clear that random numbers were being used by these con artists over VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) to deceive people and evade any possible repercussions.

Meanwhile, the scammers made another attempt and called again, and the journalist confronted them, saying he would report their incident and that their acts had been caught red-handed. After more intimidation by the journalist, the scammer who posed as a FedEx call executive admitted to the deception, revealing that they were operating from Cambodia under coercion. They further disclosed that people from other countries like Indonesia, Bangladesh and China were also operating with them. When asked why they had not contacted their embassy in Cambodia, they claimed that they were confined to their work premises and their passports and documents had been seized.

“We are now residing in Cambodia. Whatever scam is happening in India, everything is being operated from here. We were told that we would be offered a job in the casino, but we were dumped here. We are receiving Rs 4000 per month for doing this job. Now India has halted its route with Cambodia, so people from India come to Thailand from where they take a bus to Cambodia,” the scammer confessed over the phone.

He further divulged that their passports and documents had been confiscated. When asked why they hadn’t contacted the embassy in Cambodia, they claimed that they were not allowed to go out and that the embassy was also involved. “People from China, Indonesia and mostly Bangladesh are working here. The handlers are mainly from China. The Chinese government is aware of the matter. It’s not that the scam is happening only in India. It is also happening in other countries,” the scammer informed.

“It has been four months since I started working here in Cambodia. We were 2–7 people who came looking for a job. At least 8 to 9 Indians are working here right now,” he added.

The courier scam has been steadily duping people of their hard-earned money, employing disturbing levels of psychological manipulation. This scam also referred to as the ‘drugs in parcel’ scam, has been observed in numerous cases. Recently, the Assam Police issued a warning on this fraudulent scheme, which uses similar methods described above to defraud individuals. The police have urged people to stay vigilant and report such incidents to the cybercrime department.