Impersonation of customs officers to extort money, Customs dept warns public
The office of the commissioner of customs advised the public to not pay any amount in the name of customs to any person or private account.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Customs Office this week issued a public notice warning against individuals impersonating as customs officers to extort money after the department was informed about such instances.
The con persons first become friendly with their victims and subsequently promise them to send parcels of various articles to India. “They then impersonate as customs officers by using their names and instruct the consignees (i.e., general public) to deposit money in the bank account created by them for fraudulent purpose to extort money,” said the office of the commissioner of customs.
The public notice further says that officers will never approach the public and ask them to pay customs duty into an individual’s account; customs duty can only be deposited in favor of the government account of the commissioner of customs.
Moreover, if any such instance takes place, then the public can “perform the due diligence by confirming the veracity of the tracking number of the parcels through the tracking service sites provided by authorized couriers or postal department,” said the public notice. The office of the commissioner of customs advised the public to not pay any amount in the name of customs to any person or private account.