Six men arrested for defrauding 200 people in online kidney selling scam (photos)

The Banaswadi police in India have arrested six people, including a Nigerian and two Sudanese, who allegedly duped over 200 people in an online kidney selling racket.

The suspects promised to buy and sell kidneys and would cut off communication after families paid them an initial token amount to the start the process.

The gang had a website which claimed that they had the authorisation of WHO and also misused the name of a super-speciality hospital as well as reputed doctors to lure people.

They ran a cheating scam under the guise of offering kidneys to patients in need, and also offering to buy kidneys from donors. Our initial investigations revealed that they cheated as many as 200 people of anywhere between ₹50,000 and ₹60,000 each which they charged as insurance and registration fees, said the police.

One of the victims of the scam said they offered to sell his kidney for ₹2.5 crore. However, they first asked him to pay ₹40,000 as registration fees.

The scam came to light when the victim did not receive any communication from them, after which he approached the hospital listed on their website seeking a clarification. This prompted the hospital to make enquiries.

Based on a complaint filed by Dr. Shafiq M.M., director of the hospital, the Banaswadi police tracked down the gang through their website and mobile numbers that they had published.