Mumbai: Fraudsters run riot using medical emergencies as their bait as COVID-19 pandemic rages

Anurag Kamble Shirish Vaktania and Vishal SinghWith a significant section of the population scrambling for lifesaving drugs for loved ones or friends amid the COVID19 pandemic online fraudsters have found ways to exploit people in this situation too Fraudsters are playing with peoplersquos lives in the name of offering them medical supplies especially to those searching for them online Speaking to midday victims of such scams from across the country narrate their experiencesGhanshyam ShahKanika Mohan Saxena had been looking for remdesivir for a friend and got cheated by someone named Ajay Agarwal claiming to be from Cipla ldquoWe 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 samerdquo said Saxena They lost Rs 18000Ghanshyam Shahrsquos report showing him as COVID veldquoAnyone who thinks they can cheat or feed on peoplersquos 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 dangerrdquo Saxena addedSanjay Shah one of the victims and Kanika Mohan Saxena who was cheated when looking for remdesivirlsquoI lost valuable timersquoShubham Kharwar a resident of Jaunpur Uttar Pradesh was trying to help his cousin get admitted to a Thane Hospital ldquoMy 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 injectionsrdquo Kharwar saidWhile medicines used to treat COVID19 symptoms are only available at pharmacies amid the shortage desperate people have been trying every resource available Representation picKharwar paid Rs 18000 through a digital wallet to a person named Muhammed Adil ldquoThe person called me saying he has reached Mulund and asked me to pay Rs 10000 more I could arrange only Rs 6000 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 policerdquo Kharwar saidlsquoThey donrsquot have humanityrsquoJayashree Shetty urgently required medicines for her brother who is being treated at Hiranandani Hospital Powai ldquoI got this contact through someone I know closely The person posed as an official supplier for Cipla We somehow arranged Rs 17500 and transferred the same to him He said he will arrange the medicines in two hours but he disappeared He has blocked my number nowrdquo Shetty said She has registered a complaint at Powai police stationAslam MalkanildquoThe 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 donrsquot 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 donrsquot know what punishment should be given to these peoplerdquo Shetty saidlsquoThey have a place in hellrsquoShaadab Nazmi from Delhi faced a similar situation when he was trying to get remdesivir for a friend He received a contact named Atul Anand ldquoHe took advance an of Rs 8000 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 peoplerdquo Nazmi saidWhen the Shah family could not secure RTPCR tests they came across Aakash Parathe who offered to do antigen tests All the reports that he gave turned out to be fake Representation picslsquoFraudster refused to meetrsquoA relative of Aslam Malkani who lives in Bhendi Bazaar was COVID19 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 reachableJayashree Shetty was looking for medicines for brotherOne of the people Malkani managed to connect with demanded Rs 75000 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 ldquoThe 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 nightrdquoThe desperate hunt for remdesivir has been forcing people to turn to online resources Representation picInspector General Yashaswi Yadav of Maharashtra Cyber cell said that no COVID medicine is sold online Yadav said ldquoPlease ensure that you do not fall for anyone offering COVID medicines online as neither remdesivir nor tocilizumab is sold onlinerdquoOn April 22 Cipla on its official Twitter handle gave a cautionary message regarding remdesivir saying ldquoPlease 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 partnersrdquo