Team Herald
PANJIM: The Cyber Crime Police have arrested a suspect and exposed a pan-India fake hotel website racket that defrauded customers under the guise of well-known hotels in Goa, Puri (Odisha), Shillong, and Meghalaya.
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The investigation commenced after the Cyber Crime Police Station registered a case based on a complaint from the General Manager of a beach resort in Salcete.
Upon tracing the fraudulent websites, police identified the suspect as Lalit Khare (25), a resident of Morena, Madhya Pradesh. Investigations revealed that Khare had not only created the fake website but had also made payments to the hosting service for its establishment.
A Crime Branch team apprehended the suspect from Madhya Pradesh. During interrogation, police uncovered seven additional fraudulent hotel websites created by him—four targeting hotels in Goa, two in Odisha, and one in Meghalaya.
Further inquiries led the police to Firoz Ahmad from Guna, Madhya Pradesh, who was found to be connected to the accused, having made payments for the creation of fake hotel websites. Ahmad was served a notice under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and his interrogation directed the investigation towards Mewat, Rajasthan.
Police have seized a laptop and a mobile phone from the accused. According to officials, these fake websites were designed using real hotel names and images, and were linked to Google listings.
When potential customers searched online for these hotels, they were redirected to fraudulent websites. A WhatsApp contact number was provided on these fake sites, where the scammer impersonated hotel staff and tricked victims into transferring money into designated bank accounts, thereby committing fraud under the pretext of hotel bookings.
