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Woman loses Rs 58.38 lakh in fake UK gift scam in Sivaganga
A 32-year-old woman in Tamil Nadu’s Sivaganga district has been defrauded of Rs 58.38 lakh by a cybercriminal who promised to send her expensive gifts worth around Rs 1.5 crore from the United Kingdom. The accused befriended the victim on WhatsApp while posing as a dentist living in England. After building trust over regular conversations, he claimed to have dispatched a parcel containing gold jewelry and foreign currency. He subsequently persuaded her to transfer Rs 58.38 lakh in multiple installments toward purported customs clearance charges before cutting off all contact.
Following a formal complaint from the victim, a resident of Keelayur near Ilayankudi, the Sivaganga district cybercrime police registered a case and initiated an investigation. Officers are working to establish the identity of the caller and trace the bank accounts and digital trails used to execute the fraud.
WhatsApp friendship leads to Rs 1.5 crore gift claim
According to police officials, an unknown person first contacted the woman on WhatsApp in May last year. During their initial exchanges, the individual introduced himself as a practicing dentist based in England and maintained friendly, routine conversations to gain her confidence. Once a rapport was established, he informed her that he was sending a high-value gift parcel to India.
The accused claimed the consignment was valued at approximately Rs 1.5 crore, stating that it contained 80 sovereigns, or roughly 640 grams, of gold jewelry alongside 75,000 US dollars in cash. Convinced by the claim, the victim believed her acquaintance abroad was genuinely sending her the valuables, a trust the fraudster exploited for the next phase of the scheme.
Customs duty pretext used to extract money
Shortly afterward, the man informed the woman that Indian customs officials had detained the parcel upon its arrival in the country. He claimed that the gold ornaments and foreign currency could only be released after completing mandatory customs formalities and paying the requisite clearance fees. He assured her that the parcel would be delivered directly to her address once the charges were settled.
Pressuring her under the pretext of official customs procedures, the accused convinced the woman to transfer a total of Rs 58.38 lakh into designated bank accounts. Despite making the payments, she neither received the promised consignment nor obtained any verifiable shipment details. Once the funds were transferred, the accused stopped responding to her messages and became unreachable, prompting her to approach the cybercrime police.
Police trace bank accounts amid rising parcel scams
Investigators with the Sivaganga cybercrime unit are examining bank transaction records, identifying account holders who received the funds, and analyzing digital evidence linked to the WhatsApp number. Police are also verifying whether multiple individuals were involved in operating the network behind the fraud.
Authorities noted that foreign gift scams typically begin on social media or messaging apps, where fraudsters pose as overseas professionals or businesspeople to win trust before fabricating airport or customs holds. Victims are often asked to pay escalating sums under various administrative pretexts while funds are rapidly routed across multiple accounts. Police advise citizens to independently verify any customs payment demands through official channels and refrain from transferring money into private bank accounts of unverified online contacts.
