With Covid-19 holding a firm over society, some people are taking advantage of the situation by spreading misinformation on the availability of oxygen cylinders and cheating people who are desperately in need of oxygen cylinders to save the lives of their loved ones infected with COVID. Police in Hyderabad has stated that such cases are on the rise.

A citizen volunteer, Shivani Yasaswi who connects people with beds, oxygen cylinders, medicines and plasma donors, told an English daily that there were several fake numbers of oxygen suppliers floating on the internet. She explained that there are also people who forward for the sake of money, making it double hard for those looking for authentic information.

Also, several fraudsters, having hoarded oxygen cylinders, are now selling them at exorbitant prices. Advising people to be cautious, Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar says, “We have noticed several numbers of fake oxygen suppliers being circulated on the net. So, we also have started an online service, where we are listing numbers of authentic oxygen suppliers. Please contact them before you use numbers from other sources.”

A list of verified sources has been shared by Society for Cyberabad Security Council (SCSC) and Cyberabad Police can be found on https://covid.scsc.in/. People can also find verified information about various medicines, beds, blood banks and plasma support on the same platform.