Fraud Alert: What Is the ‘Customs Department’ Scam and How to Recognise It?
The Government of India has cautioned citizens against a scam involving fake calls from individuals pretending to be officials from the Customs Department. People are advised to verify the authenticity of such calls and ignore them.
On Thursday, the Indian government issued a public advisory, alerting the general public about a rising fraud involving phone calls from conmen posing as Customs Department personnel. With cybercrimes steadily increasing, fraudsters continue to devise new ways to cheat unsuspecting people by making false claims regarding unpaid charges or alleged customs-related issues.
Given the rising number of victims falling prey to such deceptive calls, authorities have requested the public to stay alert and confirm the facts before acting—especially when no international shipment has been made.
In a recent post on social media platform X, the Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) Fact Check division highlighted this scam, wherein scamsters are making calls impersonating Customs officials.
During these calls, the fraudsters usually claim that a parcel has been received in the recipient’s name and that there are problems associated with it.
“Have you received calls claiming to be from the Customs Dept. even when you haven’t ordered anything?… Stay cautious… It’s a scam,” PIB Fact Check warned in a recent post on X.
The government also shared an audio clip of one such call, in which the caller claims to be from the Customs Department and mentions an issue with a parcel registered under the receiver’s name. The person is then asked to press the number nine on the phone to get more information.
The alert, published across PIB Fact Check’s official social media handles, urges citizens to remain careful when receiving unsolicited phone calls or text messages regarding customs duties—particularly when no foreign package has been ordered.
This advisory follows several complaints of cybercriminals pretending to be Customs officers and fooling people into transferring money on the pretext of clearing unpaid customs charges. Victims are typically told that their consignment is on hold due to incomplete paperwork or pending dues and are asked to make urgent payments to personal accounts to avoid legal trouble.
The post strongly emphasised that the Indian Customs does not function in such a manner and never asks anyone to make payments to personal accounts through calls or messages.
The PIB has advised the public to disregard such fraudulent calls.
Citizens are also encouraged to verify any communication from Indian Customs using the Document Identification Number (DIN)—a unique number assigned to documents issued by tax authorities—by visiting the CBIC website: https://www.cbic.gov.in.
This initiative is part of a broader move by the government to tackle the increasing threat of online scams targeting ordinary consumers throughout the country.
