COVID-19: Delhi Police joins hands with NPCI to take on fraud medical, oxygen suppliers

New Delhi: While India is gripped with the second Covid-19 wave, scamsters are cashing in on the situation by scamming people with fraudulent promises of selling medical equipment, oxygen or other Covid-19 supplies. 

With the aim to take down on such fraudsters, Delhi Police has joined hands with the National Payments Corporation of India or NPCI, the organisation behind India’s digital payments networks such as UPI, RuPay, among others. 

The NPCI, Ministry of Home Affairs, and Delhi Police Cyber Cell have finally decided to immediately block the bank accounts of all such scamsters, who disappear into thin air after taking money in advance for supplying medical aid. 

Delhi Police spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal reportedly noted that the city has witnessed eight such cases via its cyber cells and police stations across Delhi in the past few days. “Senior officers of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre of the MHA and NPCI too were invited to find a solution,” Biswal was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times. 

In such cases, NPCI will now freeze the bank accounts of cybercriminals based on the complaint received by the Delhi Police.  

If you have been duped by scamsters in a similar fashion or know someone who has faced this tragedy, then you can file a complaint with the police by dialling 155260 or visiting www.cybercrime.gov.in. Alternatively, you can ask for help via the police’s Covid helpline 011-23469900 or by dropping an email to [email protected].