A 63-year-old man lost Rs1 lakh, while trying to book an appointment with a renowned orthopaedic 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. To make an appointment, he started browsing the internet for the contact number of the hospital where the doctor visits.
Jadhav dialed the number which appeared first in 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 priority basis”, Anand asked Jadhav to pay ₹10 as “registration fees” and fill a form.
After completing the 'formalities', the man even received a text message stating, “Your appointment has been successfully booked." Soon after, ₹1 lakh was debited from Jadhav's account.
A case has been filed under Indian Penal Code sections 419 ( cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) as well as the provisions of the Information Technology Act.