Bangalore doc falls prey to black fungus vaccine online fraud, loses father

In a cyber fraud that came to light in Bangalore, a doctor was duped of Rs 3.65 lakhs. The doctor had ordered a batch of 50 vaccines for the treatment of his father's black fungus from a dealer in Ludhiana. Instead of vaccines, the doctor received two pairs of footwear. The doctor eventually lost his father, as he could not treat him on time.

Ludhiana: A case of cyber fraud has come to light in Bengaluru, wherein a doctor was duped of Rs3.65 lakhs in the pretext of getting black fungus vaccines for his father. Six months after the incident occurred, the doctor lodged a complaint against the dealer at the Tabari police station.

Dr. Mahesh from Bangalore placed an order of 50 vaccines for the treatment of black fungus through an online transaction with a supposed dealer named Rohan Chauhan from Ludhiana. He transferred a total amount of Rs3.65 lakh to the dealer's account in two installments. The consignment arrived in time, and it did not contain the vaccines, but two pairs of footwear.

The doctor tried to reach out to the dealer thinking that there could have been some misplacement. But the dealer stopped taking the doctor's calls, after which he realised that he has been duped.

Dr. Mahesh's father was in urgent need of injections to treat his black fungus condition. The doctor therefore rushed the deal and initially transferred an advanced payment of Rs10,000 to the dealer's account. The culprit sent him the photographs of the parcel along with a legitimate bill and other details of the parcel, after which Dr. Mahesh transferred the remaining amount to his account. Since the vaccines were not in the parcel, Dr. Mahesh could not treat his father leading to his eventual death.

Inspector Jatinder Singh of Ludhiana Cyber ​​Cell is looking into the matter, while the investigation is ongoing. While talking about the increasing frequency of cyber frauds in the country, he said that the surge is continuous and the frauds often lure their victims under the pretexts of activating credit cards,winning lotteries, updating of bank details, etc. He informed that around 10 cases of fraud are registered every day, with 400 total cases currently being investigated.

He also added that the victims may use the helpline numbers 155 and 260 as soon as the fraud comes to light and the issue might get resolved as the money transaction can be reversed if it has been carried out in the recent past.He also said that the cases of online fraud are increasing continuously and that people should refrain from sharing their password or OTPs online.