rsaeon
Herald
People on reddit are split if it's a scammer or an actual third party customs/logistics company based out of Hong Kong. Thoughts/conjecture:
It seems more likely it's a third party that's in charge of clearing customs — but their questionable methods (directly contacting through whatsapp or phone instead of by email) and maybe a language barrier makes them look like a scammer. But then what would a Chinese company do with an Indian ID? It seems like an unlikely long con if it's a scammer (Aadhar and Passport may be abused, but there's nothing you can do with a Voter's ID).
From what I can tell, if you ignore this, either you don't receive your package and get a refund back from the seller, or delivery is delayed. In the second case, I think they clear customs on their own name if you don't provide your KYC details. They do this because they're probably paid to clear customs by the seller (Banggood or Alibaba). So it would make it easier for them to clear it legally with your KYC or if you don't give them your documents then illegally with a bribe. Either way, they're getting paid by the seller.
I provided my KYC through DHL some years ago and I've been careful to reuse the exact same address, name and phone number in every international order since then and I hadn't need to provide KYC after that.
You could reply and ask for proof, like what documents do they have to prove they're processing KYC for customs clearance. There's usually paperwork that's issued by Indian customs and if they're really clearing customs then they should have a copy of this paperwork. It may also be that they're doing this proactively (before the package reaches India) and want to have everything in order before they go to the customs officer.
As long as your Aadhar is locked down (biometrics, etc) it should be safe to share a copy of it — i've sent mine to countless people on OLX and I don't receive bank loan offers or job offers for youtube likes.
However, with all that said, and based on the above comment that I just found, I would say it's okay to share a copy of the Aadhar for KYC purposes.
It seems more likely it's a third party that's in charge of clearing customs — but their questionable methods (directly contacting through whatsapp or phone instead of by email) and maybe a language barrier makes them look like a scammer. But then what would a Chinese company do with an Indian ID? It seems like an unlikely long con if it's a scammer (Aadhar and Passport may be abused, but there's nothing you can do with a Voter's ID).
From what I can tell, if you ignore this, either you don't receive your package and get a refund back from the seller, or delivery is delayed. In the second case, I think they clear customs on their own name if you don't provide your KYC details. They do this because they're probably paid to clear customs by the seller (Banggood or Alibaba). So it would make it easier for them to clear it legally with your KYC or if you don't give them your documents then illegally with a bribe. Either way, they're getting paid by the seller.
I provided my KYC through DHL some years ago and I've been careful to reuse the exact same address, name and phone number in every international order since then and I hadn't need to provide KYC after that.
You could reply and ask for proof, like what documents do they have to prove they're processing KYC for customs clearance. There's usually paperwork that's issued by Indian customs and if they're really clearing customs then they should have a copy of this paperwork. It may also be that they're doing this proactively (before the package reaches India) and want to have everything in order before they go to the customs officer.
As long as your Aadhar is locked down (biometrics, etc) it should be safe to share a copy of it — i've sent mine to countless people on OLX and I don't receive bank loan offers or job offers for youtube likes.
However, with all that said, and based on the above comment that I just found, I would say it's okay to share a copy of the Aadhar for KYC purposes.
