CBIC mounts campaign against frauds committed in the name of Indian Customs
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on Monday asked the public to stay alert and discern the modus operandi of fraudsters committing fraud in the name of Indian customs. In a statement, the CBIC said various incidents have come to light through news portals/ social media platforms of fraudulent persons posing as Indian Customs officers cheating the public of their hard-earned money across the country.
These frauds are primarily done using digital means like phone calls or SMS and are focused on extracting money through the ‘purported’ fear of immediate penal actions. The fraudsters call the people saying some of the consignments addressed to them were caught by Indian Customs and found prevented items like narcotics and blackmail to extort money. The callers will pretend as staff from a reputed courier agency and claim that consignments addressed to them are caught by customs.
In order to counter these frauds through public awareness, CBIC is mounting a multi-modal awareness campaign that includes newspaper advertisements, SMS/e-mails to the general public, social media campaigns, besides awareness campaigns by CBIC field formations.
The CBIC also advised the public to take measures to safeguard themselves from becoming a victim of such scams by discerning the modus operandi of fraudsters, protecting their information, verifying antecedents of the caller, and reporting such acts by staying alert.
Some of the common modus operandi used by fraudsters are fake calls/ SMS. Fraudsters posing as courier officials/ staff target the unaware people via calls, text messages, or e-mails claiming that Customs have held a package or parcel and requires payment of Customs duties or taxes before it can be released.
Then these fraudsters impersonate customs/ police/ CBI officials demanding payment of customs duty/ clearance fees for packages/ gifts that purportedly have been received from a foreign country. Targeted individuals are asked to make payments for the release of their goods.
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