The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs has alerted the public about online booking frauds, especially those targeting religious pilgrims and tourists across the country.

These frauds are being perpetrated through fake websites, deceptive social media pages, Facebook posts, and paid advertisements on search engines like Google, an official press note said.

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These scams involve the creation of professional-looking but fake websites and social media profiles, and WhatsApp accounts offering services such as: Helicopter booking for Kedarnath, Chaar Dhaam; Guest house and hotel booking for pilgrims; Online cab/taxi service bookings; and Holiday packages and religious tours.

Unsuspecting individuals, upon making payments through these portals, often realise they have been duped when no confirmation or service is received, and the contact numbers go unreachable.

People have been advised to exercise extreme caution. They have been asked to always verify the authenticity of websites before making any payments, verify before clicking on “sponsored” or unknown links on Google, Facebook, or WhatsApp, cross-check bookings only through official government portals or trusted travel agencies, report such websites immediately at the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal: www.cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 in case of any frauds.

To contain the scams, the I4C has adopted a multi-pronged strategy. Highlights of this strategy are:

–Scam Signal Exchange – Scam Signals are being regularly exchanged with IT intermediaries, viz. Google, WhatsApp,and Facebook for proactive detection;
–Enforcement – Cybercrime Hotspots are being identified and State / UTs are being originated are being sensitised;
–Cyber Patrolling – Fake websites/advertisements and impersonating social media accounts access are being disabled to protect citizens; and
–Suspect checking and reporting feature on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal has been developed to facilitate hassle-free reporting.