Covid Crisis: In a battle to survive, common man succumbs to the 'exploitation-virus'

The social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram, continue to be flooded with desperate requests for oxygen cylinders, medicines, and hospital beds. But the battle for survival has become much more difficult with fraudsters and cheaters exploiting people in the name of oxygen cylinder and medicines.

A war against exploitation 

People are fighting a war against two viruses that are crushing the nation: the novel coronavirus and black-marketing. There have been increasing reports of rampant black marketing, theft, and hoarding of essential medical supplies.

Jaimin Panchal, a working professional in Delhi, used the social media platform Twitter to find Remdesivir injections for his friend suffering from Covid, in April. After reaching out to a lot of people, he had to encounter many suppliers who promised the medicine at double the rate. But he felt these medicines and their suppliers seemed suspicious and dubious. He was fortunate enough to not fall into their trap. However, unlike him, many have succumbed to these fraudsters, losing their money and precious life.

Calling a spade a spade, Twitter users on encountering such frauds are coming out on the platform:

Delhi Police’s plan of action

In an immediate response to the public movement on social media, the Delhi Police Commissioner directed his officers to immediately put in place a comprehensive strategy to curb the spurt in cyber offenses.

The Delhi Police has urged the citizens to call on the Covid-19 helpline number 011-23469900 to report incidents that include overcharging by ambulances, harassment faced at cremation grounds, black-marketing of life-saving drugs, oxygen, and medical articles, and cheating and fraud in the name of supplying Covid-19 drugs.

Taking cognizance of such cheating and fraud,  many FIRs have been registered in CyPAD and different police stations in Delhi.

In such a scenario, one has to be very careful and vigilant to not fall into such traps. The Delhi police have issued a full advisory to help people avoid such scams and report to them.

IPS officer Monika Bhardwaj, who is also the first female DCP of the Delhi Crime Branch also shared some tips for the common people by which they can prevent themselves from any covid related frauds and scams.