Alert Issued by Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath Regarding FedEx and Blue Dart Fraud
Zerodha’s co-founder, Nithin Kamath, has alerted the public about a recent scam that involves courier companies such as FedEx and Blue Dart. Kamath expressed his worries about fraudsters who pretend to be officials from the CBI and crime branch to trick innocent people with fake cases. Kamath shared his experience on Twitter, where he narrated an incident involving a person who claimed to be a FedEx representative.
Kamath tweeted: “There is a new scam in the name of FedEx, Blue Dart and other courier companies that you should be aware of. My colleague received a call from a person posing as a FedEx representative saying that the package was seized by the police due to the discovery of drugs.”
According to Kamath, his colleague received an “official” report from the fraudsters, who saw no effort in cheating even by making a video call posing as a police officer. The scammers also provided bank account information and urged the victim to transfer funds to ensure the release of the alleged package.
There’s a new scam in the name of FedEx, Blue Dart, and other courier companies that you need to be aware of 👇
A colleague got a call from a person claiming to be from FedEx saying that a parcel had been confiscated by the police because drugs were found in it. 1/4
— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) June 23, 2023
“The fact that the fake cops had access to his AADHAR number made the situation even more convincing. In a state of panic, the victim transferred the money immediately. If this can happen to a company that constantly trains its employees on cyber fraud, it can happen to anyone,” Kamath added.
In response to such situations, Nithin Kamath advised people to calmly say, “I will ask my lawyer to contact you.” He stressed the importance of avoiding panic and impulsive reactions, as most scammers target people who react hastily. Many Twitter users expressed their gratitude to Kamath for clearing these scams and shared their own similar incidents.
“Earlier it was parcels from Amazon and Flipkart. Now it seems that no courier company is spared. I believe there may be collusion with the employees of these companies,” one user wrote. Another user said,
Since he was expecting a courier from an e-commerce platform, he panicked. He then got a video call from someone claiming to be the police and issued this official-looking letter. They shared the bank details to transfer funds to release the package. 2/4 pic.twitter.com/KoiC6hDL19
— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) June 23, 2023
“This kind of scam has been going on for months. A friend of mine got a call like this about four months ago, and another friend faced the same scam two months ago. Everyone needs to be extremely careful because the scammers come up with new stories every time.
