# Fraudsters Target Blood Donation Appeals in Kozhikode Criminals exploit emergency medical requests to extort money from vulnerable patients in Kerala. - **Source:** [The Hindu – National](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national) - **Published:** 2026-11-06 - **Topic:** [politics](https://brifing.si/c/politics) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/c4dc1be3-a69d-4874-9f8b-11dd61e090e0 ## Fraudulent Schemes Targeting Patients Unidentified individuals are exploiting emergency blood donation appeals circulated on social media in Kozhikode. Fraudsters contact patients or their relatives, promising to provide necessary blood units. They then demand advance online payments for travel expenses, only to disappear immediately after receiving the funds without ever delivering the promised medical assistance. ## Misuse of Volunteer Identities Criminals are actively misusing the contact information of established voluntary organizations to gain the trust of desperate families. In one documented instance, perpetrators posed as students from the National Institute of Technology to solicit money from a patient receiving care at a local cancer center after legitimate donors had already assisted. ## Digital Evidence and Tracing Volunteers from the Mukkam-based organization Ente Mukkam have successfully traced a phone number used by the scammers. They have gathered digital evidence and are now urging the police to launch a formal investigation. These activists aim to hold the perpetrators accountable by providing transaction details to the local law enforcement authorities. ## Police Response and Requirements Local police sources in Kozhikode state this is the first time they have encountered such specific exploitation of blood donation networks. Officials have indicated that a formal probe will be initiated only after victims submit written complaints accompanied by concrete evidence of the digital transactions they conducted with the unidentified suspects. ## Reluctance of Victims Despite the growing number of reports, many victims remain hesitant to come forward or disclose their personal experiences. This silence complicates efforts to quantify the total financial losses incurred by patients. Voluntary groups are encouraging affected individuals to report these incidents to ensure that the authorities can effectively identify the responsible parties. ## Impact on Donation Networks These incidents have created significant concern among voluntary blood donation networks operating in the upland areas of Kozhikode. These groups rely heavily on social media to coordinate emergency requirements for patients. The emergence of these scams threatens the integrity of these vital community support systems and undermines public trust in digital coordination. ## Preventative Measures for Public Voluntary workers are now urging the public to exercise extreme caution when responding to online appeals. They advise citizens to verify the identity of prospective donors through recognized organizations before engaging. Most importantly, they warn the public to refrain from making any advance payments to unknown persons under any medical pretext. ## Broader Context of Fraud The exploitation of medical desperation highlights the risks inherent in unregulated social media coordination for health services. While India has made efforts to integrate rare blood donor registries with systems like e-Rakt Kosh, informal networks remain vulnerable. Strengthening verification protocols is essential to protect patients from predatory actors seeking to profit from crises. ## Sources covering this story - https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/donors-flag-online-fraud-targeting-patients-in-need-of-blood-in-keralams-kozhikode/article71672999.ece — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._