Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath has warned of a new “scam” in the name of different courier companies and recently shared an incident that had occurred with a colleague.

In a Twitter post Kamath narrated the incident which involved a person, who claimed to be a FedEx official, informing his colleague that police had confiscated a parcel since it contained drugs and later had to transfer money based on the directions provided to him.

Kamath wrote :- “There’s a new scam in the name of FedEx, Blue Dart, and other courier companies that you need to be aware of. A colleague got a call from a person claiming to be from FedEx saying that a parcel had been confiscated by the police because drugs were found in it.
Since he was expecting a courier from an e-commerce platform, he panicked. He then got a video call from someone claiming to be the police and issued this official-looking letter. They shared the bank details to transfer funds to release the package.
Since the fake police had his AADHAR number, this made the entire ordeal more convincing. This person panicked & transferred the money immediately. If this can happen to a person working in a company that constantly sensitizes everyone to cyber fraud, it can happen to anyone.
In a situation like this, the best thing is to say, I will get my lawyer to speak to you; it doesn’t matter even if you don’t have a lawyer. Most fraudsters prey on people who panic and react instinctively. Slowing down before reacting is the key.“

It is noteworthy that these kind of frauds are on the rise again in the past few months and you need to be careful while transacting online.