How a Mumbai office boy lost Rs 2.95 lakh trying to sell his kidney for Rs 1 crore

A 45-year-old office boy from Dahisar, Mumbai, who was struggling financially, was cheated of Rs 2.95 lakh after he tried to sell his kidney online, reports The Times of India (TOI). Believing he was dealing with a genuine hospital, he ended up speaking to a cyber fraudster who lured him with promises of Rs 1 crore.

Why did he try to sell his kidney?

The man lives in a joint family in Dahisar and works as an office boy at a company in Andheri. Facing a major financial crisis at home, he desperately looked for ways to earn quick money. That’s when he came across information online claiming a hospital in Delhi was buying kidneys.

He called the number he found, and the person who answered took down his details and promised to call him back.

How did the scam unfold?

According to TOI, on July 16, the man received a WhatsApp call from an unknown number. The caller asked for his name, age, address and blood group. He was then told he would be paid Rs 1 crore for donating a kidney, but only if he paid Rs 2.95 lakh upfront for the surgery process.

The office boy explained that he did not have that kind of money. The fraudster convinced him to pay the amount in instalments and gave him three bank account numbers to deposit the money.

What happened after he paid?

The man made the payments in several instalments, hoping the surgery would be scheduled. But after the payments were done, the caller kept delaying the process and started asking for even more money.

When the victim refused to pay further, saying he had already borrowed heavily, the caller continued to assure him that the Rs 1 crore payment was on the way.

Later, while doing more research online, the victim found out that the hospital he thought was in Delhi was actually based in Pune. He realised the person he had been talking to was not associated with any hospital at all.

FIR registered

On July 17, the office boy filed a complaint at the Dahisar police station. An FIR has now been registered against the unknown fraudster.

Police are investigating the case under cybercrime and cheating-related sections.

Inputs from TOI