Beware of Courier Delivery Scam: Woman Loses ₹1.38 Lakh

A woman from Ahmedabad fell victim to a distressing online scam, resulting in the loss of a significant amount of her earnings. The unfortunate incident began innocently when she attempted to make a payment of Rs. 5 to a courier by clicking on a link. However, she quickly realized that this seemingly harmless action was a grave mistake.

According to the Times of India, Mitiksha Sheth, a 25-year-old fashion designer, fell victim to a courier delivery scam and lost Rs. 1.38 lakhs. Apparently, Mitiksha was waiting in the paldi for a package containing pieces of cloth stitched by a tailor. When the tailor completed the order, he informed him that the order was on its way for delivery.

“On May 11, I suddenly remembered that I had given the pieces of fabric to a tailor in Paldi for stitching. He told me that he had already sent the stitched clothes through a courier shop. As I did not receive the package for two days after the call, I tracked it on Google,” Sheth said in his complaint, ToI reported.

Later, the delivery boy of the company called the woman and asked to pay Rs. 5 delivery costs. He was told that the package would not be delivered unless he paid. For the payment, the guy sent him a link to the payment. However, when he made the payment through the link, he was again asked to pay Rs. 5. At this moment, he realized that something was wrong and immediately closed his bank account.

A few days later, he noticed that his bank balance was low when he tried to send money to a friend. To check what happened, he visited his bank branch, where he learned that a fraudster had obtained his bank details and that he had charged Rs.1.38 lakh in four transactions between May 12 and 13.

He filed a complaint with the cyber security inquiry under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Act for cheating and breach of trust. The case is currently being investigated.

In particular, such frauds have become more common and the authorities are constantly warning the public about safe ways to make online payments. The first thing to never do is to click any link or share your OTP with anyone. In fact, think twice before clicking on a suspicious link sent by someone you don’t know. Even if friends and family members send such links, do not click until it is fully verified.