SHILLONG: The Customs department has informed that certain unscrupulous elements of crime syndicates have been duping ordinary citizens by posing as Custom Officers through phone calls, e-mails and swindling large sums of money from unsuspecting people.
These criminals suspected to be having country-wide networks, pick targets through telecom subscribers database, e-mail IDs or even Facebook accounts. Commissioner of Customs Gaigongdin Panmei said that the usual modus operandi of these criminals is to contact victims over phone or e-mails informing that the individual has won a lottery or has been selected to win a prize from abroad.
“These calls are usually made from unlisted mobile phones and internet numbers,” he said
To receive the prize, the target person is asked to deposit a certain amount of money as “Customs Duty” in a particular bank account, provided by the caller which clearly is a bank account in fictitious name.
They usually show a sense of urgency and advise target victims not to delay, as that might result in forfeiture of the package. It has been reported that many people from Shillong, Guwahati, Kohima and Dimapur has become victims of such cases of swindle, recently. It has been notified that neither Customs department nor any of its officers make any such calls to anybody for deposit of Customs Duty in any particular bank account.