Chandigarh man falls prey to India Post fee scam, loses ₹1 lakh

The victim’s wife got a phone call that they need to pay ₹5 to receive the passport via India Post speed post and shared a link

Cyber criminals continue to employ new tactics to defraud unwary citizens.

The victim said after he made the payment through his bank account, the passport was received the same day. But on March 25, ₹1.04 lakh were withdrawn from his SBI bank account. (Shutterstock)

Believing a text message that the delivery of a speed post parcel via India Post was held up due to a pending fee of ₹5, a resident of Sector 23 ended up losing ₹1.04 lakh.

The victim, Jaswinder Singh, 36, a businessman, told the police that he had applied for the renewal of his six-year-old daughter’s passport from the Chandigarh regional transport office.

On March 23, 2023, his wife got a text message saying that the passport had been dispatched via India Post speed post. The next day, he checked the parcel’s tracking ID online, where he filled in his daughter’s details and his phone number.

Later, his wife got a phone call that they need to pay ₹5 to receive the passport and shared a link. He added that after his wife failed to transfer the money, he made the payment through his account and the passport was received the same day.

But on March 25, he received text messages regarding withdrawal of ₹1.04 lakh from his SBI bank account through multiple transactions, following which he approached the cyber crime helpline 1930.

Police have lodged an FIR under Sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.