Fake Customs Official, Supervisor Email Dupe IIT Researchers Of ₹3.12 Lakh In Indore

Two researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore fell victim to cyber fraud, losing a combined total of Rs 3.12 lakh. Simrol police registered individual cases under sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Indian Penal Code against unknown perpetrators and initiated an investigation to follow the digital traces. In the first incident, which occurred on August 10, 33-year-old researcher Sangeeta from Odisha, who resides at IIT Simrol, received a call from an individual posing as an airport customs official.

The caller informed her that she had an international parcel and demanded Rs 35,999 for customs charges via PhonePe. The fraudster then requested additional funds as an endorsement fee for high-value items and later for an exchange charge, coercing her to transfer more money from her personal account, as well as from her brother and a friend.

When the caller demanded an additional Rs 3.5 lakh and threatened extra fees for package return, Sangeeta realized she had been scammed and reported the incident to the 1930 national cyber helpline. In the second case, which took place on August 19, researcher Buddhadev Ghosh from Howrah, West Bengal, received a fraudulent email from officialgroupleader102@gmail.com.

The sender, impersonating her project supervisor, urgently requested her to purchase Amazon and Steam gift wallet codes. Believing the email to be genuine, Ghosh purchased digital codes worth Rs 15,000 and sent them to the sender. Shortly thereafter, he received another email asking for additional codes, so he sent another Rs 15,000.

After scrutinizing the email address more closely, Ghosh identified it as fake and acknowledged that he had lost a total of Rs 30,000 to the scammer.