Here’s How You Can Spot A Fraud Supplier Of Oxygen Cylinders & Medicine
India has been constantly struggling with the second wave of COVID-19. With rising positive cases and death tolls each day, people have been struggling to find positivity of any kind. But in these difficult times, we have also seen how humanity can sometimes surpass all evil and hatred. During the past few weeks, people have come out to support random strangers, sold their own property to provide for those in distress, and went an extra mile to help anybody that they could. However, there are others who have taken this adversity for granted and are trying to scam those in distress.
There are a lot of fraudsters who are trying to take advantage of the healthcare crisis going on in our country right now. These people are scamming people who are trying to buy oxygen cylinders and other medical necessities for their family members or friends. They are clearly not mindful of the fact that somebody who is trying to buy such medical necessities is already distressed enough, not to mention the fact that everyday people are dying due to the lack of medicines and money. Yet these fraudsters are duping people into paying for medical necessities like oxygen cylinders, injections, and medicines in advance to a supplier. However, this supplier is fake and the concerned people end up getting no necessities.
Along with this, fake medicines are also being sold. For example, Fake Remdesivir is reportedly being spotted in the markets. In fact, BBC also did a report on it where they went around spotting fake medicines or vaccines and asked the dealer regarding it. They cross-checked the company’s name mentioned on the medicine with the list of organisations approved by the government to actually manufacture the vaccines.
However, not everyone has the resources or means to do that and in times of such utter desperation, people are buying even these questionable drugs. While talking about the advance payment scam, there are people who share the contact information of suppliers who are selling things like oxygen and medicine. However, some of these contacts turn out to be completely fake as they take the money in advance but do not deliver the ordered product.
In a recent report, an IT worker said that he urgently required an oxygen cylinder and remdesivir for a patient, and he found a contact from Twitter who was selling these required products. When he talked to that person, they asked him to deposit Rs 10,000 as a form of advance payment. However, the moment he sent the money, the seller blocked his number and made it impossible for him to reach the contact.
People are driven by desperation and fear right now which makes them even more vulnerable to these scams. Some of the state governments plan on exposing this black marketing of remdesivir and few arrests have already been made. However, the black market, as of now, seems unfazed.
There are some things that everyone should keep in mind if they don’t want to be duped or fooled.
1. First of all, do not make any advance payments to any supplier.
2. Contact the supplier and ask them for their address.
3. Visit the address given by the supplier, collect the required oxygen cylinder or medicine personally, and then make the payment.
4. In case the supplier needs some sort of pre-payment, ask them for proof of PAN No. or GST No. Give them a token amount only when they give you proper details.
Most of the sham suppliers won’t really entertain such queries regarding the medicine or vaccine if you refuse to pay them in advance or question them about their GST No./PAN No.