As cyber fraudsters are constantly evolving new ways of trickery, the latest con targets people looking for medical aid. Recently, two people had to swallow bitter pills while searching the internet for health-related queries.
Senior citizen loses ₹1 lakh trying to book appoitnment
In the first case, a 63-year-old man lost ₹1 lakh while trying to book an appointment with a renowned orthopedic surgeon. In his complaint filed at the Dadar police station on May 17, Sharad Jadhav said that he suffered from knee pain hence he wanted to see the "famous" doctor. He browsed the internet for the contact number of the hospital where the doctor visits. Jadhav dialed the number which appeared first in the search results. The call was answered by a man who introduced himself as Ashish Anand. Assuring the senior citizen that his appointment would be made "on a priority basis," Anand asked Jadhav to pay ₹10 as "registration fees" and fill a form. Subsequently, the man even received a text message stating, "Your appointment has been successfully booked." Soon after, ₹1 lakh was debited from Jadhav's account.
₹1 lakh lost while booking room at hospital
In the second case, 29-year-old Mehjabeen Shaikh was trying to book a room in a renowned hospital for her ailing mother. The Bandra resident, too, ran a Google search for the hospital's contact number. The caller asked her to share a one-time password and pay ₹1 as a "service charge." Shaikh complied; however, a rude shock came in when she reached the hospital and came to know that there was no room booked in her mother's name. She was then struck with a message from her bank, which stated that ₹1 lakh has been debited from her account.
Talking to this newspaper, Shaikh said, "I was disturbed after coming to know that the fraudster made me run from one hospital to another with my ailing mother. I have filed a first information report with the Bandra police, but no arrest has been made yet."
Fraudsters exploit the need of such people as they know that their targets won't think twice before acting, said the police.
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