On Friday (August 18), popular dermatologist Neelam Singh aka ‘The Skin Doctor’ took to Twitter to expose a case of donation fraud, which was being run on crowdfunding site ‘Ketto.’
In a series of tweets, he informed that an infant suffering from a skin condition called ‘congenital ichthyosis’ was being falsely presented as a ‘burn victim.’ The child was identified as the daughter of one Aysha.
“Huge Fraud alert: Saw this on @ketto’s offical handle. Well shot, emotionally appealing ad for donation. Except, this is NOT a case of fire accident as claimed by ketto, but a form of congenital ichthyosis. So decided to analyse the medical certificate attached,” wrote Dr Neelam Singh.
Huge Fraud alert : Saw this on @ketto's offical handle. Well shot, emotionally appealing ad for donation. Except, this is NOT a case of fire accident as claimed by ketto, but a form of congenital ichthyosis. So decided to analyse the medical certificate attached (1/4) pic.twitter.com/JfV0mwPvCg
— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) August 18, 2023
He pointed out that such a daylight fraud was being committed with the help of a supposed ‘multi-speciality hospital’ named ‘Sankalp’ in the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
The medical certificate was issued by Dr Qamar Ali Khan, who does not hold an MBBS degree and is a practitioner of Unani medicine. Dr Neelam Singh claimed that the other two doctors, who are listed in the certificate, namely, Dr Balwinder Dhawan and Dr Yatish Kumar, do not work at the Sankalp Hospital.
“Left side is the medical certificate given by some Sankalp Hospital Saharanpur. Right is the Google details of that “Multi-speciality hospital”. No phone number, no website. Just 5 reviews, all 5 stars,” he wrote.
don't exist in this hospital. So let's come to the third doctor on the certificate, Dr Qamar Ali (BUMS), not MBBS. He exists. Patients of certain demographic profile, takes certificate from this hospital and post it on Ketto/Milap, who platform them without verification (3/4) pic.twitter.com/VLJEVQHU4E
— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) August 18, 2023
The dermatologist said, “Patients of certain demographic profile, takes certificate from this hospital and post it on Ketto/Milap, who platform them without verification,”
As evident from the screenshots presented by him, several people have prepared medical certificates from Sankalp Hospital and Dr Qamar Ali.
“There are hundreds of donation campaigns on Ketto/Milap which use medical certificate of this (possibly dummy) hospital only. This needs thorough investigation,” Dr Neelam Singh emphasised.
Both Milaap and Ketto writes in their 100 pages terms & conditions (which you don't read) that they don't guarantee the accuracy of claims posted on fundraisers on their websites. So it's totally open to fraud. Yet you guys donate thinking it'll go for a noble cause for sure. pic.twitter.com/uIu75kvdMZ
— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) August 18, 2023
He pointed out that crowdfunding sites such as Ketto and Milaap do not guarantee the legitimacy of cases featured on their websites.
“Both Milaap and Ketto writes in their 100 pages terms & conditions (which you don’t read) that they don’t guarantee the accuracy of claims posted on fundraisers on their websites. So it’s totally open to fraud. Yet you guys donate thinking it’ll go for a noble cause for sure,” Dr Singh concluded.
Interestingly, the fundraising campaign for the daughter of Aysha ended a day after the exposé by ‘The Skin Doctor.’ It must be mentioned that Dr Neelam Singh completed MD – Dermatology, Venereology & Leprosy from Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) in 2016.
Response of Ketto to the controversy
Following an uproar on social media, the crowdsourcing platform ‘Ketto’ issued a statement. In a tweet, it said, “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We understand the seriousness of this situation, and we want to assure you that we are taking it up very sternly.”
“Our compliance team is already investigating the case, and a senior member of the team is on their way to the hospital to verify this issue as quickly as possible. We will keep you updated on our progress,” it further added.
It claimed, “We would also like to clarify that, as a matter of policy, no funds are withdrawn until the treatment has taken place and the bills have been uploaded. In this particular case, the treatment has not yet started because the fundraiser only went live 10 days ago.”
“In the meantime, we have stopped all communication around this case. We want to make sure that we are not spreading any misinformation. We look forward to the continued support of our community, in saving lives,” Ketto concluded.
Dr Neelam Singh also responded to the statement issued by the crowdfunding site. He said, “You guys invest huge money in advertising and marketing. Why can’t you invest a fraction of that to hire a panel of experts to verify the diagnosis and medical documents and start taking up the responsibility of what is put on your platform?”
“You just write “we’ve no liability if any case is found fraud” in terms and conditions and that’s it. People donate in good faith thinking that if it’s on Ketto, it must be genuine. A huge scam is going on. Hundreds of cases, all with similar emotional videos and medical documents from this specific hospital. It’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he highlighted.
