Kolkata: Cops have cautioned citizens while booking tour packages, especially those planning to attend Maha Kumbh Mela this Jan. The warning came after Delhi Police reported several fake websites offering fraudulent Kumbh Mela deals.
Police have asked people not to trust information on the internet alone. "Ensure that you talk directly to the hotels instead of only trusting the online booking," said a cyber cell officer.
One of the victims, a 71-year-old resident of Garia, Satyendranath Chatterjee, almost lost Rs 2 lakh while trying to make reservations for Kumbh Mela after being impressed with a booking site. "They have done this to multiple people. When I kept enquiring, they did not answer. As a result, I stopped my final payment," said Chatterjee.
In another case, a senior citizen went to Lalbazar about a booking he had made for a train ride in Vietnam. "The elderly man realised he was duped when the receipt showed major language errors. The fraudsters had either hacked websites run by hoteliers or created a similar website, offered good deals," said a cop.
—Dwaipayan Ghosh
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