Using sad news to cheat

Using sad news to cheat

From Kompas

Recently someone who introduced himself as Dr. Handoko from
Sukabumi phoned my family in Jakarta to inform that I had met
with a traffic accident in Sukabumi when in fact I had not.

At about 11 a.m. Dr. Handoko called my house to say that I was
involved in a traffic accident in Sukabumi and that I was
seriously injured and was being treated in a local hospital. He
repeatedly told my family that I was in critical condition. Later
he called to say that I was being transported in an ambulance to
Pertamina Hospital (RSPP) in Jakarta. He asked my wife to contact
Dr. Pramudia, a pathologist there, giving the latter's mobile
phone number, and to pay him the hospital bill, which amounted to
Rp 27,950,000, by transferring the money to an account in BNI's
Kebayoran branch under Riski Deswanto.

Perhaps because until 4 p.m. no transfer had been made, Dr.
Handoko called my wife again, who was then on her way to see him
in Sukabumi, to tell her that I had died.

Imagine how under the circumstances my wife pushed the panic
button. My son who was waiting at RSPP and my other son who was
in Bandung panicked thinking they would never see their father
anymore. At home my family, my old mother and neighbors made the
necessary preparations to receive my body.

Dr. Handoko's plan to cheat was indeed quite well organized:
the names of the doctors, the number of my nonactive mobile phone
and other things mentioned were true, but the bizarre
circumstances of course raised suspicion.

HERU ENDROPRANOTO

Sukabumi, West Java