HYDERABAD: An ophthalmologist in Hyderabad has allegedly been duped of Rs 8.5 lakh in two cyber scams related to MBBS admission and a property transaction. Cyberabad Police have filed a case and initiated a thorough probe.
As per the FIR, Dr Mohammed Nadeemullah, an MBBS and MD (Ophthalmology) holder, visited the Cyber Crime Police Station on February 15, to report the sophisticated scam. He said that on February 10, he received a call on WhatsApp from a person misrepresenting himself as the principal of Katihar Medical College. The scammer presented an NRI MBBS seat for Nadeemullah’s daughter and coerced him into providing her ID details and educational documents.
Believing the caller, Nadeemullah transferred Rs 6.5 lakh online as the first-year MBBS fee from the Rs 8 lakh he was asked to pay. Soon after, upon feeling discrepancies with the contact information, he cross-checked with the real principal of Katihar Medical College, Dr R.B. Gupta, and he corroborated that the admissions were closed and the documents provided were counterfeit. Nadeemullah immediately lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime Helpline and froze his bank accounts.
Later, on 12 February, the doctor received another call from some other individual who introduced himself as BSF official Ashok Kumar. He called the doctor with the pretence of buying a piece of property. By making misleading promises, the caller convinced Nadeemullah to send Rs 2 lakh to two different bank accounts, with the promise of a refund within 24 hours. A demand for another Rs 1 lakh the following day alarmed him, and a consultation from a bank manager verified that the transactions were a fraud.
Nadeemullah registered another cyber complaint and sought stringent legal action against the impostor individuals.