Cyber thugs create fake websites of Manali hotels, defraud tourists booking rooms online
Abhinav Vashisht
Kullu, April 10
Many cases of cybercriminals duping tourists and hoteliers have come to the fore in Manali. Hoteliers allege fraudsters create fake websites resembling the official ones and dupe tourists booking rooms online.
Manali being a popular tourist destination witnesses a huge footfall throughout the year. To avoid inconvenience, most people prefer to book hotels in advance, usually online. In view of this rising trend, cybercriminals have become active and are cheating tourists by creating fake websites of hotels and accepting bookings.
A number of complaints have been lodged with the police in the recent past with hoteliers alleging fraudsters lifting pictures from their official websites and creating duplicate portals.
Mukesh Thakur of the Manali Hoteliers’ Association said they had alerted the association members about the online booking fraud and told them to remain alert and keep checking if any fake website had surfaced. “The administration and the police have also been apprised of the matter,” he added.
Hoteliers said the Tourism Department should create a dedicated portal for making reservations at registered hotels to protect tourists from getting duped.
Krishna, a tourist, said fraudsters duped him by duplicating the website of a hotel in Sikkim, stating it to be in Manali. Jitendra, another traveller, said he had booked a hotel in Manali but when he arrived here, he found the hotel had no clue about it. He tried calling the person whom he paid the advance money, but got no response.
There are hundreds of travel websites and portals selling Manali tour packages and most of these are unregistered and being operated from other states. Many websites do not even mention any contact details.
The modus operandi
- Fraudsters create fake websites resembling the official ones
- Accept payments from tourists in lieu of booking of hotel rooms
- Tourists on arriving in Manali learn about fraud, fail to trace thugs
- Hoteliers fear rising incidents will bring bad name to industry
