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Several people across Delhi-NCR are being defrauded in the name of doorstep collection of samples for Covid-19 testing. Here are precautions you can take to protect yourself from getting duped.

 

With the second wave of Covid-19 infections wreaking havoc in Delhi-NCR, several services have propped up promising doorstep collection of samples and online results. Accounts are now coming to light that indicate how people are being duped in the name of coronavirus sample collection.

Thousands of people in Delhi-NCR, who have symptoms like fever and cough are trying to get themselves tested for Covid-19. In most cases, people opt for doorstep collection of samples in order to avoid stepping out of the house.

Massive backlogs have also forced most labs to a position where they have stopped taking any new bookings.

In a recent case, a resident of Gurugram in Haryana was defrauded by a person who came to her residence to collect samples for Covid-19 testing.

Kriti V Sharma, who was experiencing mild symptoms, decided to get tested on the advice of her doctors along with her 26-year-old son. When she tried contacting pathology labs, most said they were overbooked and doorstep collection of samples wouldn't be possible.

She then reached out to her friends, one of whom shared a contact number for doorstep collection of samples.

'Person had authorised RT-PCR kit'

"On April 20, I called up a technician by the name of Ashish Shokeen ( mobile number: 9599630***) who said that he was attached to Cee Dee Labs to come and take our samples from our residence. His number was forwarded to me by one of my contacts who had received it from someone else," said Kriti Sharma.

She goes on to say, "The said person came and took the samples around 1 pm on the same day, saying that the report would come the following day in the evening. He had the RT-PCR test kit which is given only to authorised people. There was no report and when I called him up, he said it was taking 24-48 hours, so it would come on April 22."

However, Kriti grew suspicious when she did not receive the reports on April 22 or April 23. All of her calls to Ashish went unanswered. When she called him using her son's number, Ashish took the call and said that the reports were delayed due to overload.

"The delay in reports was suspicious and I called up Cee Dee Labs yesterday (Friday) evening at 7.21 pm and spoke to a Mr Chauhan who first said that I should take the report from Ashish Shokeen himself and then later said that there was no technician by this name working for them. I fail to understand how an unregistered technician could be in possession of PCR test kits," said Kriti.

At the same time, this person who claimed to be Ashish Shokeen switched his mobile phone off. It was clear that Kriti, who had made a payment of Rs 2,400 for the two Covid-19 tests through PayTM, was defrauded. She wrote a Facebook post about the incident.

In fact, two of her friends from Noida and Gurugram commented on the post that they had come across a similar fraud.

Kriti, who is under quarantine, has filed a complaint with Gurugram's Sadar Police Station in this regard.

Here's how you can protect yourself from such frauds:

  • Book your test through the official website of the lab.
  • When the person arrives to collect the sample, check their identity card and take a photograph of the same.
  • Call the lab before making any payment and check if the person who has come to collect samples works with them or not.
  • Take a receipt of the payment.
  • Do not call a person to collect samples whose number is out on social media or on messenger services like WhatsApp.

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