Shillong, march 14: Mr Gaigongdin Panmei Commissioner Office of the commissioner Preventive North Eastern Region (Preventive said that It has come to the notice of the Customs Department that certain unscrupulous elementslmembers of crime syndicates have been duping ordinary citizens by posing as Customs Officers through phone calls, emails and swindling large sums of money from unsuspecting people.
These criminals suspected to be having country-wide network, pick targets through telecorn subscribers database, e-mail IDS or even Facebook accounts.
The usual modus operandi of these criminals is to contact victims over phone or e-mails informing that helshe has won a lottery or has been selected to win a prize from abroad. These calls are usually made ‘from unlisted mobile phones1 internet numbers.
To receive the prize gifts, the target person is asked to deposit a certain amount of money as “Customs Duty” in a particular bank account, provided by the caller which names clearly is a bank account in fictitious and They usually show a sense of urgency and advise target victims not to delay, as that might result in forfeiture of the package.
It has been reported that many people from Shillong, Guwahati, Kohima and Dimapur has become victim of such cases of swindle, recently.
Public are hereby notified that neither Customs department nor any of its officers make any such calls to anybody for deposit of Customs Duty in any particular bank account. It is also informed that Customs Duty, is always deposited in Government account only under specific ‘Head of Accounts’ against a Challan issued by a proper offieer.
Public are hereby cautioned and advised to desist from making any such payment in the name of Customs Duty. It is also advised that if any such calls are received, the matter should be immediately reported to the local Police Station. Said Gaigongdin Panmei Commissioner Office of the commissioner Preventive North Eastern Region (Preventive).(SP News)
