Now RMLIMS doctor falls victim to ‘digital arrest’ scam, loses ₹90K
Dr. Ruby Thomas fell victim to a 'digital arrest' scam, losing ₹90,000 to fraudsters posing as CBI officers, marking the third case targeting local doctors.
In a yet another instance of a medical professional falling victim to cybercrime, a doctor at an esteemed medical centre in the city has become a victim of the ‘digital arrest’ scam.
Ruby Thomas, who hails from Andaman and Nicobar’s Port Blair and is a doctor in the ENT department of Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, lost ₹90,000 to cyber thugs, she stated in her complaint to Vibhuti Khand police on September 8. An FIR under 66D of the IT Act, 2008 has been registered.
Speaking to HT, Dr Thomas said she was scammed on August 16 and approached Hazratganj police the next day. “I was then told that I should also file a complaint at a nearby police station. So, I informed Vibhuti Khand police on September 8,” she added.
“On August 16, I received a call from someone who claimed to be a CBI officer. He said a SIM card had been issued on my Aadhaar card and which was to demand ransom money in a kidnapping case. Therefore, I was to be arrested, he said. The fraudster demanded money and I transferred Rs. 90,000 to an account,” read the FIR.
This is the third case of ‘digital arrest’ of a doctor in the city. Earlier, Dr Ruchika Tandon, a resident of Krishna Nagar, complained to Cyber Police Station in Vibhuti Khand on August 10 that she was defrauded of ₹2.81 crore by cybercriminals posing as CBI officers. They had ‘confined’ her in her home from August 1 to 8 under the pretext of ‘digital arrest’.
Dr Ashok Solanki, who runs a clinic in Vikas Nagar, was also put under ‘digital arrest for over a day and duped of ₹48 lakh by two fraudsters—one posing as an employee of a courier service and the other as the DGP of Maharashtra.
