Beware of people pretending to be Customs officials ‘selling’ seized goods.
After several cases of people falling prey to con men and losing money, Customs authorities in Bengaluru have sounded an alert to the public and have asked people to report such calls to the police and not transfer any money.
In one recent case, a person deposited ₹2.5 lakh into the account of an unidentified man claiming to be a Customs Officer to buy an SUV.
The con man had contacted the victim claiming that a confiscated SUV, seized by the Customs Department, was being auctioned. He sent photos of the vehicle to the man who expressed an interest in purchasing it.
He transferred the money as per the instructions he was given. As he knew an official in the Customs Department he called him up to talk about it, only to find out that he had been duped, an official release from the Customs Department stated.
In another incident, the department received an inquiry from a man about a vehicle for which he had paid an advance amount of ₹8,000.
Customs authorities said they would trace the con men with the help of the bank account details into which the victims had transferred money. They clarified that there is no scope for Customs officials calling to sell seized vehicles or asking them to pay for the delivery of packages.
