Hospital emergency Calls? Stay Vigilant! Cyderabad police warns against fraudsters

Hyderabad: Amid rising incidents of both online and offline frauds targeting doctors, and a growing trend of fraudsters impersonating high-profile legal officials to make the fraud trustworthy, a new scam has emerged in Telangana. Cyberabad cyber crime police have issued a warning about this latest scam, which targets families through fake hospital emergency calls.

In this new scam, the fraudsters pose as hospital staff and trick families into transferring money by claiming that their family member is in critical condition and needs urgent financial help.

While no such cases have been reported in Hyderabad in recent months, similar incidents have surfaced in other parts of the country, prompting the police officials to issue an advisory. The police have urged the public to remain alert and verify such emergency calls before making any financial transactions.

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Even though Medical Dialogues has reported on numerous types of fraud involving doctors and medical students over the years, this new scam that preys on people's emotions highlights a disturbing level of desperation among fraudsters to extract money at any cost.

According to the police, the fraudsters in this scam target unsuspecting families, make them vulnerable and then force them to transfer funds to save their family members's lives. They allegedly create a panic situation leaving the families with little time to process the situation.

The innocent families, unaware of these scams, have unfortunately become the latest victims which has allowed the police to identify the fraud and raise awareness among other citizens to prevent further losses.

"In such cases, fraudsters target ‘unsuspecting’ families by impersonating hospital staff. They claim that a family member is having a medical emergency and play on the emotional vulnerability of people," said a police official.

Speaking to The Hindu, an official from the Hyderabad cyber crime police said, “This is a simple modus operandi. Under the guise of providing urgent medical care, fraudsters convince family members to immediately transfer funds. The act is quick to prevent them from verifying any details."

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