Mumbai: The Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) filed an online cyber complaint late last week after discovering a website that mimicked the council, attempting to phish for data or money from medical professionals.The site, ‘maharashtramedicalcouncile.in’, is a replica of the council’s official website and features both a login page and a payment portal. Although the site appears to be in its early stages, as the pages do not currently progress beyond the initial clicks, the council is not taking any chances. “It could become functional at any point, so as a precaution, we have filed an official complaint,” said Dr Vinky Rughwani, MMC administrator.City-based Dr Santosh Kadam, former Indian Medical Association (IMA) state president, said that doctors have already been warned about the fake website.He added that the medical community has become increasingly cautious following several recent scam attempts targeting doctors. Just two days ago, Dr Kadam said, a state IMA office-bearer suffered a ‘digital nightmare’ when his phone was cloned by a scammer.Speaking to TOI, Nagpur-based Dr Kush Jhunjhunwala said he was expecting a delivery when he received a call stating that a delivery person was unable to locate his home and was asked to call a specific number. “As soon as I dialled the number, my phone was hacked. I lost complete control, and the phone was switched off.”He reached out to friends in the Nagpur police, and the matter was taken care of. However, by then, all of his contacts had received WhatsApp messages asking them to send Rs 45,000 for urgent help. “No one fell for it, but it was scary,” said Dr Jhunjhunwala.
