- This topic has 38 replies, 26 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 1 month ago by
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HA friend of mine went on a trip in India in early 2023. At the airport, their travel partner had an electronic cigarette which got confiscated. A few days later, my friend got a WhatsApp message from someone claiming to be a government official, saying they had to pay a 30k INR fine. The messages were threatening and intimidating, so they paid.
Later, someone claiming to be a police officer contacted them, said it was a scam, and that thanks to their help, they caught the scammer. They asked my friend to make a video explaining what happened. Then they said my friend would receive 3 lakh INR as compensation.
But then things got worse. They claimed the payment had to go through the GST office, which started asking for money for various “fees” — documents, taxes, processing, stamps, etc. Each time, they said the money was refundable. Over the course of a year, my friend sent around 20 lakh INR.
Now, they’re saying the money can’t be sent to a foreign bank and want to give it in cash to my friend’s Indian contact. They even claim that contact’s bank account is “blocked” and will only be unblocked when the case is closed.
This seems like a massive scam, but my friend is in too deep, and still confused about what’s going on.
What can they do now? Is there any way to report this or recover anything? Has anyone heard of something like this before?
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HMan he is poor guy. Only has one arm. Works in construction. He was an old penpal. This sucks. Feels really bad that it’s happening to him.
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BDamn, he’s poor. That sucks man, all his money taken just like that. Didn’t he inform you while all this was happening to him?
I mean you could’ve warned him prolly, how the heck all this kept going on for a year and he got no help or anything.
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HHe is an old penpal. We stopped texting a long while ago. He recently contacted me to ask about this. If he asked before sending money. I would definitely say don’t send it. 30k for damn e cigarette? What are they gonna do if he is already in france. Makes no sense to me to send money. I can’t believe how it got to 20 lakh.
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Bman, and when he explained all this debacle to you, didn’t he give a reason or what was he thinking this whole time.
btw… you Slowly user?
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HHe seems extremely naive. When i tell him it’s probably a scam he still wanna believe he’ll get his money back. He said regrets not talking to me before about the issue etc. There is an Indian friend of him. He stayed at his place etc. That indian friend is the one who is saying stuff like i went to gst office. They took my passport etc. I think that guy is a scam too. Too much is going on. That money is probably long gone.
Slowly user? I don’t understand that you meant.
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BYup that “friend” is a scammer. This makes much more sense, first they emotionally manipulated him then they got him. That’s why it took so long for him to understand this, he blindly trusted the guy.
Perhaps the “friend”, the very first time he contacted him, that was his plan. If this is even slightly true then there’s a possibility of getting the money back if police investigates that guy, although I’m not sure exactly if this is a lead, you need to check on with experts on this.
Like if you suspect that guy then how he should proceed from here on. Post an update on this maybe?
It’s an app for penpals, I used it in the past.
Anyways, good luck to you and your friend.
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DHe didn’t realise it was a scam until he gave away 20L? Lol. The minute GST comes into the picture, that’s your answer right there. But even otherwise, anyone asking for money is a scammer these days. Are you saying he’s still confused about what’s going on?
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SIt’s a financial fraud..Report online financial fraud at the National cybercrime helpline number 1930 and to your embassy & India MEA through email.
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FI got these from chatgpt.
Not sure, if these are correct ones.
Email:
General inquiries: dcm.paris@mea.gov.in
Consular services: cons.paris@mea.gov.in
Economic and Commerce: eco.paris@mea.gov.in
Press, Information & Culture: pic.paris@mea.gov.in
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GHello, sorry about your friend. I think you should directly appeal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the French embassy. If it catches news headlines, then even if your friend’s money is not recovered, the scammers may face some action. However, since so a long time has passed, it may be hard to pinpoint their identity.
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GScammers in India are world class. No question about that.
A family friend and elderly person known to me (in his 80s) got caught by forex scam and lost most of his money. Now he is entrapped in !recovery scam. I keep telling him that the folks trying to ‘recover’ his money are also scammers. But he keeps saying they are ‘good people’.
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DI feel your friend told the story of his e ciggerate getting confiscated to a taxi driver or hotel staff or fellow traveller. And they sent your friends details to the scammer.
Govt officials in India will not use WhatsApp for official business. We are still a very paper and in person driven policing.
And govt doesn’t give compensation of 3 lakhs if you get scammed for 30k. Govt didn’t scam you to pay you more. If I get pickpocketed in France and help police catch the thief, French govt will not give me 10 wallets as compensation – then why would Indian govt do?. In reality, it is very difficult to recover from scammers and even if they do, they can relate the initial amount at the court case which will take 3-10 years.
You need to file a proper compliant – there are online cyber crime reporting in India. But it is almost impossible to get back the money.
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HI don’t even know if i can help him anymore. He is still texting the scammers. The gst office just texted him at 10.52pm that they’ll send his money on Saturday. They will give it to his friend. Damnn the shit these scammers say. I kinda have a feeling that he believes them. Why won’t he just call the french police or embassy. The whole stuff is weird af.
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SNothing can be done. These scammers are good or they wouldnt be in business for as long if they were caught everytime somebody complained. I think there should be a prime time show in all of Europe to educate the elderly about our indian scammers. There’s no virus in your computer, there’s no police officer on video call asking you to deposit money for gst or whatever.
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