Rajkot farmer loses Rs 6.31 lakh in Facebook parcel scam

The Story in Brief

Three foreign nationals have been arrested for allegedly cheating a farmer of Rs 6.31 lakh through a Facebook-based parcel scam in Gujarat’s Rajkot district, India Today reports. Police identified the accused as Josephine, alias Angel, from Ghana, Mgenjeli Imani Dennis from Tanzania and Philip Batista Joseph Valentine from South Sudan.

Police said the farmer accepted Josephine’s friend request and was told that a parcel from Germany contained cash and valuables. A caller posing as a Delhi airport customs officer then sought duties and other charges. The farmer made several online transfers before realising the parcel would not arrive. Investigators traced the alleged operation to Greater Noida using digital and banking records. Police are seeking to freeze 15 bank accounts. The investigation continues.

The Indian Opinion

The lazy narrative is that social media fraud works only on careless or elderly victims. This case shows how a plausible relationship, official-sounding calls and repeated small demands can pressure anyone into paying. The opposite exaggeration, that every foreign national linked to such cases is part of a wider network, is also not established here. The practical test is simple: no genuine customs release should depend on private transfers to unknown accounts. How many of the 15 accounts are frozen and how much money is recovered?

Source: indiatoday.in

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