A Panchkula resident, looking forward to a holiday in Kashmir, lost ₹48,000 to swindlers while trying to book a hotel room online.
Sonam, a resident of DLF Amravati, told police that on August 10, she booked a hotel in Kashmir through a phone number available on its website.
The person who answered the call claimed to be an employee of the resort and told her that the two-day room rent will be ₹24,000. He asked her to share details through a WhatsApp message and reverted with his bank details, asking her to pay the rent in advance. After making the payment through UPI mode, Sonam received a phone call saying that the bank account where she had transferred the money was frozen and the hotel staff was unable to process her booking. The caller asked her to re-initiate the payment in another account and promised refund of the earlier payment, following which, she made another transaction for ₹24,000.
On August 11, when she called to confirm the booking, the person answering the call hurled abuses at her and disconnected the call. Later, when she contacted the hotel’s helpline number to report the matter, she was informed that the website had been hacked.
Realising she had been duped, she approached the police, who registered a case under Sections 419 (cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code at the cyber crime police station in Sector 12.