A 41-year-old resident of Balajinagar in Pune lost nearly Rs 31 lakh to cybercriminals posing as the Anti Narcotics Cell of the Mumbai Police. Sandeep Yashwant Deshpande 41 fell victim to the drugs in the parcel scam,' prompting an FIR to be filed at the Bharati Vidhyapeeth Police Station under sections 419, 420 of the Indian Penal Code, and section 66D of the IT Act against an unknown accused.
According to police reports, Deshpande received a call from an unknown number on April 11, with the caller claiming to be from FedEx couriers. The caller informed him that a parcel sent from Mumbai to Bangkok on April 11 had been intercepted for drugs by the Anti Narcotics Cell of the Mumbai Police and that an FIR had been lodged against him in Mumbai. Initially denying any involvement, Deshpande was threatened with a rigorous investigation and instructed to visit the Mumbai Police Office. Subsequently, he was directed to attend a Skype call since he resided in Pune. Connecting to a Cyber Crime Mumbai Skype ID, he encountered a scammer posing as a Cyber police officer, who assured him of innocence after the investigation and requested his full name and bank details.
Further complicating matters, a scammer posing as a Police Inspector informed Deshpande that his bank account had been used for illegal activities and connected him to another fraudster posing as a CBI officer. The fraudster urged Deshpande to transfer his bank account funds to a surveillance account under the guise of aiding an investigation. Fearing the consequences presented by the scammers, between April 16 and April 17, Deshpande transferred Rs 31,89,000 to three different bank accounts provided by the scammers. Upon realizing that he had been deceived, Deshpande promptly filed an online complaint on the Pune Police website on April 18. The case was subsequently transferred to the Bahrti Vidyapeeth Police Station for further investigation, led by Police Inspector Crime Sharad Jhine.