Centre alerts public about online booking scams targeting pilgrims, tourists

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

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According to the officials, these frauds are being perpetrated through fake websites, deceptive social media pages, Facebook posts, and paid advertisements on search engines like Google.

“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 service bookings, holiday packages and religious tours,” the MHA official said.

Notably, 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.

The ministry advised to exercise extreme caution and 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,” the official said.

The ministry informed that I4C is taking multi-prolonged strategy to contain the such cyber scams which includes regularly exchanging scam signals with IT intermediaries viz. Google, WhatsApp, Facebook for proactive detection.

For enforcement, cybercrime hotspots are being identified and states from where crimes originate are being sensitised. “Fake websites/advertisement and impersonating social media accounts access are being disabled periodically on to protect citizens,” the official added.

As per I4C, total number of complaints on National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) and amount lost were 19.18 lakh and Rs 22,811.95 crore respectively in 2024.