A senior citizen from Mumbai’s Gamdevi area was allegedly cheated of ₹1 lakh by a cyber fraudster while trying to book a doctor’s appointment online. The unidentified accused sent a fake link under the pretext of confirming a hospital appointment and siphoned off the amount from the victim’s bank account. Based on the complaint, Gamdevi Police have registered an FIR under relevant sections of the IT Act and fraud, and have initiated a search for the culprit.
According to the police, the 69-year-old complainant is a resident of Gamdevi. On July 19, he was trying to get an appointment with Dr. Hardik Shah. When his call to the doctor didn’t connect, he searched for another contact number on Google. During the search, he found a different mobile number listed and called on it. The person on the other end offered him an appointment for July 21 (Monday).
However, a short while later, the same person called the victim again and claimed that the appointment hadn’t been confirmed yet, and it could only be done through the hospital’s official app. The fraudster then sent a link to what he claimed was the app. Trusting the message, the senior citizen clicked on the link, uploaded his personal details, and attempted to pay ₹10 as a booking charge. But when he didn’t receive any confirmation message for the ₹10 debit, he didn’t proceed with further payments.
Shockingly, on July 23, he received three consecutive messages from his bank stating that ₹3,000, ₹49,000, and ₹48,000 had been debited from his account—totaling ₹1 lakh. Upon realising he had been scammed, he informed his son about the incident.
Further investigation revealed that the cyber fraudster had used the fake link to extract sensitive banking details from the victim and fraudulently transferred the money. The victim then approached Gamdevi Police and registered a formal complaint.
Police have now launched an investigation into the matter and are trying to trace the unidentified fraudster using digital forensics. Authorities have also advised the public to refrain from clicking on suspicious links and to always verify phone numbers through official hospital websites or directories.