New Delhi, September 17: A 34-year-old woman from West Delhi allegedly lost around ₹1.2 crore in a cyber fraud after scammers convinced her that a diplomatic parcel containing £700,000, worth more than ₹9 crore, had arrived from abroad and was being held by customs.
The alleged fraud continued for nearly a year, with multiple people reportedly posing as bank officials, high commission representatives, a British citizen and a United Nations-linked doctor. The woman was repeatedly asked to make payments for customs duty, storage, taxes, transaction charges, banking codes and other fees, but neither the parcel nor the promised money was ever delivered.
WhatsApp Contact Starts Alleged Foreign Parcel Scam
According to police, the woman was first contacted on WhatsApp in March 2025 by a person claiming to be an auditing official of a bank.
He allegedly told her that a diplomatic courier containing £700,000 had been held at a high commission and that the parcel had been sent in her name. She was reportedly told that customs duty and storage charges had to be paid before the parcel could be released.
Although she initially refused, the alleged fraudsters reportedly convinced her that the parcel and the money inside it were genuine.
Multiple Identities Used to Demand More Payments
The alleged demands continued to increase. In September 2025, another person reportedly contacted the woman while claiming to be associated with a high commission and offered to help arrange the parcel’s release in return for further payments.
In October, the alleged fraud shifted to another identity. A person claiming to be a British citizen and a doctor associated with a United Nations mission in Yemen allegedly told the woman that he had spoken to the high commissioner and would arrange to take custody of the parcel.
He also allegedly promised to arrange a cheque worth $100,000, or around ₹96 lakh.
Proposal for Conducting Cyber Crisis Drill, Tabletop Exercise (TTEx) & CCMP Readiness Exercise
Fake Banking Process Used to Extract More Money
The alleged scammers then moved the conversation from the parcel to banking transactions.
The person reportedly claimed that he had money in a bank account and could transfer it to the woman. However, she was allegedly asked to make payments for transaction codes, taxes and an increase in her transaction limit.
Despite these payments, the promised money never appeared in her account.
Fraud Allegedly Continued Into 2026
The alleged fraud continued into the following year. The person who had earlier contacted the woman reportedly claimed that he had obtained money meant for her from a diplomatic facility and would travel to India to help recover it.
He allegedly demanded 40% of the amount along with accommodation expenses.
In February 2026, the woman was allegedly told that £16,000, worth around ₹21 lakh, had been transferred to her account from an international account. When the amount did not appear, she was reportedly asked to pay additional transaction charges.
Another person allegedly posing as an auditing official of an international bank continued making similar demands until April 15.
Woman Eventually Reports Fraud to Police
After repeated payments, the woman allegedly received neither the parcel nor any of the promised money. She eventually stopped communicating with the suspected fraudsters and informed her parents and sister about what had happened.
Around two months later, she approached the authorities, following which police registered a case and began investigating the alleged fraud.
Investigators said the woman managed bank accounts connected with her father’s healthcare business. Police suspect that the alleged racket built her confidence over an extended period by using different identities, making repeated promises and gradually increasing the financial demands.
Police Trace Bank Accounts and Digital Trail
The investigation is focused on the bank accounts, mobile numbers and digital communication channels allegedly used in the fraud.
Police are also examining the identities used by the suspected members of the racket and tracing the movement of money from the woman’s accounts to identify the people and entities allegedly involved.
The case follows a familiar cyber-fraud pattern in which victims are told that valuable parcels, foreign currency or large sums of money have arrived from overseas but cannot be released without payment of customs duties, taxes or other charges. The use of multiple identities can further create the impression that the transaction involves genuine banks, diplomatic organisations or international institutions.
What This Means For You:
Claims about overseas parcels containing large amounts of cash or valuables should be treated with extreme caution, particularly when the recipient is asked to repeatedly pay customs charges, taxes, transaction fees or other amounts before receiving them. Genuine government, diplomatic or banking processes should be independently verified through official channels rather than through contact numbers or WhatsApp accounts provided by the person making the demand.
The420 Insight:
The alleged fraud shows how scammers can turn a single false promise into a long-running financial trap by introducing new identities, new fees and new explanations whenever a promised payment fails to arrive. In this case, tracing the ₹1.2-crore money trail and establishing how the different identities were connected could be crucial to identifying the wider network behind the alleged operation.
About the author — Ananya Aradhya writes on cybercrime, fraud, scams, cybersecurity, digital safety, and emerging threats. Her work also covers major criminal cases, financial frauds, consumer scams, and stories that highlight risks affecting people in the real and digital world.
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