Grief-stricken families haven’t even bothered to go to cops. Their stories
To find medicines, people are either calling numbers forwarded on WhatsApp or found on Facebook, Instagram. Representation pic
Anurag Kamble, Shirish Vaktania and Vishal Singh
With a significant section of the population scrambling for life-saving drugs for loved ones or friends amid the COVID-19 pandemic, online fraudsters have found ways to exploit people in this situation too. Fraudsters are playing with people’s lives in the name of offering them medical supplies, especially to those searching for them online. Speaking to mid-day, victims of such scams from across the country narrate their experiences.
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Ghanshyam Shah
Kanika Mohan Saxena had been looking for remdesivir for a friend and got cheated by someone named Ajay Agarwal claiming to be from Cipla. “We were pooling resources to get it from wherever possible as the patient was critical and hospitalised in Gurugram. I spoke to the person and after my friend transferred the money to his account, he stopped taking my calls. I tried through other numbers, the result was the same,” said Saxena. They lost Rs 18,000.
Ghanshyam Shah’s report showing him as COVID -ve
“Anyone who thinks they can cheat or feed on people’s vulnerability in such testing times should be punished severely and booked for homicide. Such people are the lowest scum of the human race. People depend on medications and make resources available which might be beyond their means in the hope of saving their loved ones but alas the treatment gets delayed. There needs to be an easier way to report such frauds than a huge process which leads to more anxiety for the person already dealing with emotional trauma or seeing a loved one in danger,” Saxena added.
Sanjay Shah, one of the victims and Kanika Mohan Saxena, who was cheated when looking for remdesivir
‘I lost valuable time’
Shubham Kharwar, a resident of Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, was trying to help his cousin get admitted to a Thane Hospital. “My uncle said the doctors have asked for six vials of remdesivir but they could not get it. I was frantically searching since April 24 and called numerous numbers found through WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter. One person on WhatsApp said he will give the injections,” Kharwar said.
While medicines used to treat COVID-19 symptoms are only available at pharmacies, amid the shortage, desperate people have been trying every resource available. Representation pic
Kharwar paid Rs 18,000 through a digital wallet to a person named Muhammed Adil. “The person called me saying he has reached Mulund and asked me to pay Rs 10,000 more. I could arrange only Rs 6,000 and paid him digitally. Then he blocked me. I was distraught. More than the money, I was upset about having lost so much time. Fortunately, the delay did not turn fatal. I registered an online complaint with Mulund police,” Kharwar said.
‘They don’t have humanity’
Jayashree Shetty urgently required medicines for her brother who is being treated at Hiranandani Hospital, Powai. “I got this contact through someone I know closely. The person posed as an official supplier for Cipla. We somehow arranged Rs 17,500 and transferred the same to him. He said he will arrange the medicines in two hours but he disappeared. He has blocked my number now,” Shetty said. She has registered a complaint at Powai police station.
Aslam Malkani
“The number came to me through reliable sources. Can you imagine that these people are making money in this terrible pandemic? People are looking for medicines to save their loved ones and these fraudsters don’t even have humanity. My mother died just a day before I had been looking for the medicines. Can you imagine the pain and agony I must have gone through when this fraud happened? I don’t know what punishment should be given to these people,” Shetty said.
‘They have a place in hell’
Shaadab Nazmi from Delhi faced a similar situation when he was trying to get remdesivir for a friend. He received a contact named Atul Anand. “He took advance an of Rs 8,000 and promised to deliver remdevisir. But he switched his phone off after taking the money. They are still fooling people on WhatsApp. There is a special place in hell for such people,” Nazmi said.
When the Shah family could not secure RT-PCR tests, they came across Aakash Parathe who offered to do antigen tests. All the reports that he gave turned out to be fake. Representation pics
‘Fraudster refused to meet’
A relative of Aslam Malkani, who lives in Bhendi Bazaar, was COVID-19 positive and the doctor prescribed tocilizumab injection. While trying to procure it, Malkani asked for help via WhatsApp groups. Many people sent him forwarded messages and Malkani tried the phone numbers in them, most of which were not reachable.
Jayashree Shetty, was looking for medicines for brother
One of the people Malkani managed to connect with demanded Rs 75,000, which he agreed to pay. However, the person demanded payment on Google pay and said the injection would be sent via courier. Malkani said he would bring the money personally to take the injection but the person refused to meet. “The seller asked me to pay first but I found that suspicious. I offered to go myself but he refused. Meanwhile, my relative was so ill that he died in the night.”
The desperate hunt for remdesivir has been forcing people to turn to online resources. Representation pic
Inspector General Yashaswi Yadav of Maharashtra Cyber cell said that no COVID medicine is sold online. Yadav said, “Please ensure that you do not fall for anyone offering COVID medicines online as neither remdesivir nor tocilizumab is sold online.”
On April 22, Cipla on its official Twitter handle, gave a cautionary message regarding remdesivir saying, “Please beware that unscrupulous persons have set up bank accounts fraudulently in the name of Cipla Ltd., enticing the public to transfer funds towards alleged supply of medicines upon remittance. These persons are not connected with, nor authorised by Cipla. Authorities have been alerted and are investigating the matter. We urge consumers to source Cipla products only through our authorised stockists and channel partners.”
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