Cheated by a 'doctor'

Cheated by a 'doctor'

From Sinar Pagi

Some time ago a relative of mine received a call from a man
claiming to be a doctor at a private hospital. He said a relative
of mine had met with an accident and was in critical condition at
the hospital. The man further said that due to his grave
condition, he had to be operated on at once otherwise he might
die. After giving his cellular phone number, he said the surgery
would cost Rp 10 million and that the money was to be transferred
immediately to his BCA account, the number of which he also
provided. He asked that he be contacted as soon as the money had
been transferred.

Panic-stricken, my relative forgot to contact the family of
the "injured" man. He rushed to a nearby ATM to transfer the
money and then dashed to the hospital. However, at the reception
he was surprised to learn that this relative had not been
admitted in the hospital.

He tried several times to contact the person who called him,
but to no avail. Realizing that he had been cheated, he went to
BCA to check if the money had been transferred, and to his
dismay, it had.

We have often heard of this kind of trickery, and the culprits
are not easily apprehended. Also banks are reluctant to help
customers trace the recipient's address.

I would like to appeal to readers to be extra careful. If you
receive a similar call, please counter check before you take any
action that you might regret.

ABDURRAHMAN SALEH

Jakarta