Surabaya (beritajatim.com) – Nunik Susilowati (49), a resident of Keputih, Surabaya, fell victim to a telephone scam on Thursday (04/07/2024) involving her family member who was a patient at RSU Haji. From the incident, Nunik suffered a loss of up to Rp 19 million.
Nunik Susilowati explained that her mother had been hospitalized at RSU Haji for 2 days due to brain issues. Her mother had experienced seizures and was being treated in the ICU.
“I was at work. The scammer called me 3 times before I answered,” said Nunik when interviewed by Beritajatim.com at the Sukolilo Police Station on Friday (05/07/2024).
When the phone rang for the fourth time, Nunik decided to answer it out of concern that it might be a call from RSU Haji where her mother was being treated. When she picked up, she heard a woman claiming to be a nurse from RSU Haji. The imposter nurse informed her that her mother’s condition had worsened and needed to be treated by a neurologist. The fake nurse then passed the phone to her accomplice who pretended to be the neurologist named Dr. Subroto.
“The person claiming to be Dr. Subroto said that my mother was critical due to a blockage in her brain. He also knew my mother’s full name. So, I believed him,” added Nunik.
Nunik was asked to transfer an amount of Rp 9.8 million immediately to purchase an endoscopy device. The scammers said that the endoscopy device was actually covered by Nunik’s class 2 BPJS. However, since the device was not available at RSU Haji, Nunik was asked to buy it from the scammer group through a person named Dr. Hendra.
“He said to buy it from his friend named Dr. Hendra from RSUD Dr. Soetomo. I immediately transferred twice. The first one was Rp 2.5 million and then another Rp 7.3 million via ATM,” said Nunik.
During the conversation after the two transfers, Nunik was asked to transfer an additional Rp 10 million for the supposed additional endoscopy device. One of the scammers named Dr. Hendra requested the additional money claiming that he was in the ambulance delivering the device to RSUD Haji.
“There was the sound of an ambulance in the background of the phone call. So, I believed him and transferred the money,” she said.
Nunik only realized she had been scammed after contacting one of the nurses at RSU Haji to inquire about her mother’s condition. The nurse informed her that her mother’s condition was stable.
“I am surprised how the scammer knew that my mother was being treated in the ICU at RSU Haji, knew that I had class 2 BPJS, and even knew my mother’s illness in the nerves and brain,” Nunik concluded.
Beritajatim then confirmed this incident with Masrul, the PR Officer of RSU Haji. Masrul explained to Beritajatim that the hospital is currently investigating the incident involving one of their patients. He stated that the hospital management will take action on this case.
“We will investigate further. I have coordinated with the management,” he concluded. [ang/aje]
