Officials at Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) have reported at least two occasions in which patient families allegedly got fake calls from ‘hospital workers’ requesting money. The hospital has lodged a complaint on its behalf. Similar incidences have also been recorded by private city hospitals.
According to Dr Vinayaka Kale, dean of BJ General Medical College and SGH, the resident medical officer (RMO) has submitted a letter reporting the occurrence. ‘The RMO has filed a complaint regarding the incident. Written instructions will be given to patients, nurses and ward boys to not entertain such calls’, said Dr Kale.
As per Dr Bharti Daswani, superintendent of BJ General Medical College and SGH, a formal letter has been written to the dean and a complaint has been lodged at Bundgarden Road Police Station. ‘There have been at least two incidents wherein patients and their families have allegedly received calls in the name of RMO. We have filed a non-cognizable offence at the police station’, said Dr Daswani, adding that the caller reportedly asks patients to send money to a rickshaw driver’s account. ‘He then takes the money from the rickshaw driver and gives Rs1,000 to the driver. A driver identified the suspect as well’, Dr Daswani further said.
Some private hospitals have reported receiving similar phoney calls. The Ruby Hall Clinic chief of security, Col. Ravi Kumar (ret. ), reported on similar events. ‘Very recently, some of our staff received such fake calls. They have also hacked the phone numbers uploaded on websites. We had earlier reached out to the cybercrime department’, Kumar said.
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