MUMBAI: An internet search to do online hotel booking in a city-based five-star hotel got costlier for a consultant director of an IT Firm from Pune who lost Rs3.84 lakhs that a fraudster siphoned from his credit card on October 3.
Airport police that registered the case said the victim, PK Javed (48), realised that he was duped when he rushed to the hotel to verify and check the online booking he had made by calling on the number that showed belonged to the hotel and learned that he was duped by an online fraudster.
Javed visited Mumbai to attend an official meeting with an IT firm on October 3. He decided to book a hotel room as he had a meeting scheduled for the next day in Mumbai. “This made Javed look for a hotel booking online. The cyber team of the police station has sought details from the bank to track the transaction that was carried out from Javed’s credit card,” said a police officer of the Airport police station.
Javed got duped after he finished his official meeting at around 4 pm and planned to search on the internet for a hotel booking. In the complaint, Javed said, “I clicked a link on the internet search and was taken to a contact number which was attended by a person identified as Avinash who claimed as a staff of the five-star hotel who looks after the online booking.”
In the FIR, Javed said, “The person told me there is a room available and it will cost me Rs7927 for a night. I was asked to make the payment for the booking using my card. I shared my card details like card number, expiry date, and CVV number. Soon the amount was debited from my card. However, the person claimed that he did not receive the money. Soon, Rs3.76 lakhs was debited from my account.”
The fraudster even shared a screenshot of Rs10.29 that the hotel received. However, Javed got suspicious and within 30 minutes he reached the hotel. “I learned on reaching the hotel that there is no person by the name Avinash employed at the hotel who looks after online hotel booking,” Javed mentioned in the complaint.
Airport police that registered the case said the victim, PK Javed (48), realised that he was duped when he rushed to the hotel to verify and check the online booking he had made by calling on the number that showed belonged to the hotel and learned that he was duped by an online fraudster.
Javed visited Mumbai to attend an official meeting with an IT firm on October 3. He decided to book a hotel room as he had a meeting scheduled for the next day in Mumbai. “This made Javed look for a hotel booking online. The cyber team of the police station has sought details from the bank to track the transaction that was carried out from Javed’s credit card,” said a police officer of the Airport police station.
Javed got duped after he finished his official meeting at around 4 pm and planned to search on the internet for a hotel booking. In the complaint, Javed said, “I clicked a link on the internet search and was taken to a contact number which was attended by a person identified as Avinash who claimed as a staff of the five-star hotel who looks after the online booking.”
In the FIR, Javed said, “The person told me there is a room available and it will cost me Rs7927 for a night. I was asked to make the payment for the booking using my card. I shared my card details like card number, expiry date, and CVV number. Soon the amount was debited from my card. However, the person claimed that he did not receive the money. Soon, Rs3.76 lakhs was debited from my account.”
The fraudster even shared a screenshot of Rs10.29 that the hotel received. However, Javed got suspicious and within 30 minutes he reached the hotel. “I learned on reaching the hotel that there is no person by the name Avinash employed at the hotel who looks after online hotel booking,” Javed mentioned in the complaint.
