Coimbatore cybercrime police crack down on FedEx scam, arrest key member in New Delhi

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore rural cybercrime police busted a FedEx scam. A police team visited New Delhi and arrested one of the members of a FedEx scam gang, seizing laptops, mobile phones, and other electronic gadgets.
The person was brought to Coimbatore on Sunday morning and was remanded in judicial custody. A preliminary inquiry revealed that he was involved in 11 more cases of similar cheating in various states in the country.
The arrested person was identified as Gopi Kumar, 42, from Badarpur in South Delhi. The Coimbatore rural cybercrime police said Rithika, 25, daughter of Balakrishnan from Selakarichal near Sulur in Coimbatore district, received a call from an unknown number on September 20, 2024.
A stranger impersonated a FedEx courier service firm employee and told her that a parcel was booked using her identity proof and the parcel contained drugs and other illegal items. The stranger directed the woman to connect via Skype video call with Mumbai cybercrime police officials.
A fake police officer spoke with her on the Skype video call and collected her bank account details for verification purposes, along with her credentials. The fake officer assured her that he would send back the amount to her bank account after the verification process. He also threatened her that if she did not obey his instructions, he would make a digital arrest immediately.
The woman, afraid of the fake police officer, transferred Rs 10 lakhs to the accounts given by the fake police officer from her bank account. Later, she realised that she was cheated by the cyber fraudsters. She immediately registered an online complaint at the national cybercrime reporting portal - www.cybercrime.gov.in.
The police registered a case against the cyber fraudsters under sections 318 (4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act and 66 D of the Information Technology Act. Cybercrime police sub-inspector Ananth and his team analysed the suspect’s bank accounts and froze them. The same accounts were involved in 11 more cases in Delhi, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.
A special team led by sub-inspector Marimuthu visited New Delhi, arrested Gopi Kumar a few days ago, and produced him before a judicial magistrate court. Later, the police obtained a prisoner transit warrant and brought the cyber fraudster to Coimbatore on Sunday.
Police said Gopi Kumar was running two companies – Compact and Nihansh Corporation Private Limited in New Delhi, and he was also part of the FedEx scam gang. His three friends were functioning as masterminds of the scam, and a police team has been camping in New Delhi to nab the rest of the suspects.
The police seized six mobile phones, two tablets, three keypad phones, seven debit cards, three cheque books, four hard disks, 10 SIM cards, a memory card, a laptop, one seal, a pen drive, passport, business cards, and letterhead from him.