At least 1,000 duped on fake Covid jab websites
NEW DELHI: Soon after India launched the world’s largest Covid-19 vaccination drive in mid-january, more than 1,000 people across the country were duped of over ₹40 lakh by an international syndicate that allegedly created a fake website, after cloning the official website of the Union ministry of health and family welfare, and offered inoculation to individuals at a cost of ₹4,000-₹6,000 per shot, the Delhi Police said on Friday.
Although that particular fake website was blocked around the first week of February and two separate cases were registered by the Delhi Police – one in February by the CYPAD (cyber crime unit) and another in the last week of April by South Avenue police station – at least eight more fake websites, which offered vaccination slots on payment, have been blocked in the past fortnight, after links to these websites were found circulating as text messages and social media posts, police said.
“These links directed people to fake websites or prompted them to download mobile applications for registering themselves for the vaccination. The objective of these websites was to either dupe people of money or to steal their personal and banking data,” said Anyesh Roy, deputy commissioner of police, CYPAD.
As far as the two cases registered over the fake website of the ministry of health were concerned, there has been no progress in the South Avenue police’s investigation, the officer said. The investigation done by CYPAD has led to the arrest of two people of Nepal origin,--one from Siliguri in West Bengal and another from Uttarakhand--between March and April. The investigating team also seized their two bank accounts in which more than ₹40 lakh was deposited by at least 1,000 people for getting the Covid-19 vaccine, a senior CYPAD officer, who did not want to be named, said.
The two were identified as Shekhar Pariyarwas (caught from Siliguri) and Ashok Singh, who was nabbed in Uttarakhand. Their interrogation revealed that their common link, a man based in Nepal, had approached them for opening bank accounts into which the vaccine aspirants were made to deposit the money, which was further routed to various international bank accounts, the officer quoted above said.
Investigators said the fake website was created by copying the original ministry site’s metadata. The fake website is an exact clone of the official website, down to the India state emblem. The only difference in the two websites was the “Appointment for Vaccination” section -- this is not there on the original ministry site.
“Upon clicking on the ‘Appointment for Vaccination’ button, the website takes to a URL where the person could select a vaccine for purchase. Upon selecting the vaccine and number of doses, the person needed to share her name and phone number. The payment sought was ₹4,000 to ₹6,000, depending on the vaccine chosen,” the officer said.
Apart from taking down such websites, the city police and other agencies have also been issuing advisories on various media platforms to caution people against falling victim to such frauds, said Delhi Police spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal.