Comedian Rohan Joshi targeted in fake courier scam. What gave scamster away

Comedian Rohan Joshi is one of the founding members of AIB

Comedian Rohan Joshi has revealed that a scamster tried to target him in the popular fake courier scam. However, a small detail gave his scheme away.

Joshi, one of the founding members of the creative agency AIB, shared an Instagram video on what he described as the “greatest scam call.” He said he received a phone call from a man claiming to be from Delhi Police and Customs. The man told him that his Aadhaar card had been used to send drugs from Delhi to Cambodia.

The fake courier scam is a very popular one where swindlers target people by telling them that their ID card has been used to send drugs, arms or other illegal substances to other countries. The scamsters typically impersonate a Customs or police official and persuades the victim into transferring a sum of money to their accounts.

Joshi probably realised it was a scam call. He asked the scamster what drugs had been sent to Cambodia under his Aadhaar card. There was a beat of silence before the person on the other end said “MMDA.”

This, of course, was the fumble that confirmed the scam, since the scamster probably wanted to say MDMA, not MMDA. MDMA stands for 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine, a synthetic drug that is commonly known as ecstasy or molly.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rohan Joshi (@mojorojo)

Rohan Joshi eventually hung up on the scamster, bank balance intact. However, others have not been so lucky. Over the last few years, hundreds of people have lost their savings to the scam.

In January this year, a Bengaluru woman lost Rs 48 lakh to online scammers who posed as staff working for Fedex. More recently, another woman was made to strip on camera by scammers posing as staff of the same courier company.

In a statement, the company said it does not ask customers for personal information. "FedEx does not request personal information through unsolicited phone calls, mail, or email for goods being shipped or held, unless requested or initiated by customers. If any individual receives any suspicious phone calls or messages, they are advised not to provide their personal information. Instead, they should immediately contact the local law enforcement authorities within the vicinity or report to the cybercrime department of the government of India," said FedEx.