A fake notice in the name of the Supreme Court, a fake text message claiming to be from “India Post”, a link that promises a reward, a threat to arrest for booking a consignment of drugs — swindlers are coming up with new methods to cheat people.

The Telegraph spoke to several police officers and victims to find out the latest techniques to cheat people.

‘SC notice’

Swindlers are calling people saying the Supreme Court had issued a notice against them and then sending a “document” with “Supreme Court of India” written at the top and the names of the persons mentioned as suspects. Their Aadhaar numbers are mentioned, too.

The document also mentions that the recipient is a suspect in the “Raj Kundra transnational fraud”.

“After threatening the targeted person with a purported Supreme Court notice, the swindlers are trying to extort money from him or her with the promise that the case would not be pursued,” said a CID officer.

How to avoid falling into the trap: The police said such calls should be disconnected immediately. Court summons or notices, officers said, are sent by post or through email and not through tele callers.

Arrest threat

A resident of Parnasree in Behala recently received a call with the caller introducing himself as an “ED officer”. The swindler initiated a video call and succeeded in extorting ₹65.63 lakh from him after telling the victim that a consignment of drugs had been booked in his name.

“Arrest threat is the most common bait used by fraudsters to blackmail their targets and force them into paying hefty amounts,” said an officer in the cybercrime cell of
the southwest division of
Kolkata Police.

How to avoid falling into the trap: Officers said that even if someone pays fraudsters, the matter should be immediately reported to the police. “In the case of the Parnasree resident, we managed to freeze more than ₹20 lakh in the account where the money had been transferred. The victims should report the fraud without any delay,” said the officer, who is a member of the probe team.

‘India Post’ text

A message lands in the inbox saying it was from “India Post” and that a package intended for the recipient can’t be delivered because the address written on it is incomplete.

“Your package has arrived at the warehouse and we attempted delivery twice but were unable to due to incomplete address information. Please update your address details within 48 hours, otherwise your package will be returned. Please update the address in the link: https://bit.ly/4f34z7C After the update is completed we will re-deliver within 24 hours, India Post,” read a message received by a Kasba resident on Sunday
afternoon.

“People often tend to click on the link thinking that someone has indeed sent them a parcel,” said an officer in the cybercrime cell of the city police.

“However, once someone clicks on the link, a malware gets installed in the phone. It can reveal all personal details saved in the phone, including banking details if the person does online transactions,” the officer said.

How to avoid falling into the trap: Such text messages should be deleted and the link in it should never be clicked. If someone has sent a parcel which cannot be delivered because of wrong or incomplete address, the postal system usually sends it back to the sender.

If the phone number of the recipient is mentioned on the parcel, someone from the postal department calls him or her with a request to collect the item from the nearest post office.

Fake e-challan

Fraudsters have developed a link that resembles the traffic e-challan links, except for a few letters, that are sent to traffic rule violators.

“The fake e-challan mentions a number and the amount to be paid. The message contains a link for online payment,” said an officer in the traffic department of Kolkata Police.

Clicking on the link can lead to installation of a malware in the phone and the device can be accessed by fraudsters to make fraudulent transactions, the police said.

How to avoid falling into the trap: Check whether the link is genuine or not. The genuine link will be: https://echallan.parivahan.gov.in/. A fake e-challan will have a link like: https://echallanparivahan.in/

Do not click on any phishing links, the police said.

Reward promise

Fraudsters are sending text messages to people telling them that a hefty amount has been credited in their gaming accounts. To claim the money, the recipients are being told to click on a link.

The police said clicking on such links may lead to loss of money from bank accounts even without sharing any OTP.

How to avoid falling into the trap: Such messages must be deleted.