Pune: An investigation by the city cyber police into 88 cases of parcel fraud registered between January 1 and April 30 this year revealed that cybercriminals are mainly active in Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan.
The victims in these cases lost a total of 18 billion, the individual amounts varied between 53 thousand and 1.18 million.
Because money mule accounts are primarily used for financial transactions, police have made little progress in tracking down the criminals.
However, the cyber police are not losing hope. Police officials told TOI that they would soon arrest some people based on the leads they are probing.
The procedure is the same in all cases. Fraudsters call the victim and claim to be from the Narcotics Control Bureau, Andheri Police, Mumbai or a similar department.
They claim that a package sent from India to Taiwan or Thailand has been seized, calling the sender a victim. The package allegedly contained mephedrone, illegal passports, laptops and several drugs.
They say a case has already been registered and an arrest will be made soon. They ask for money to settle the case and provide bank account details to transfer the money.
Most victims panic and spend money under pressure to give in to this tactic. The Mumbai police and international courier companies have already warned against such tactics by fraudsters.