In the past three days, Cyberabad police have registered two separate cases of online travel booking fraud, with victims losing over ₹14 lakh collectively. The first case, reported on Saturday, involves Taduri Rammohan Reddy, a trader from Kompally, who filed a complaint after being defrauded of ₹9 lakh along with three of his friends. The group had been promised a tour package for four families to Malaysia and Vietnam by a person named Arun Kumar from TripByFly.com.
Reddy explained that they paid the amount through net banking, digital payment platforms, and credit cards. However, they were issued fake flight tickets and hotel bookings, and the GSTIN provided by the accused turned out to be fraudulent. After receiving the payment, the accused cut off all communication, leaving the victims stranded.
The second case was reported on Sunday by Rishabh Nath, a resident of Kokapet, who was attempting to book accommodation at a beach resort in Goa. Nath made an initial payment of ₹11,420 to the resort. Soon after, he was contacted and told to make additional payments due to a supposed “system error.” Nath was connected with a person named Vikas, who claimed to be an accountant at the resort. The accused convinced Nath to make further payments under the pretext of a refund, using app-based codes to siphon off ₹5,36,370 from his bank account.
When Nath later reached out to the resort directly, he was informed that the accused had no association with them. Nath immediately filed a complaint, leading to the registration of the second case.
Cyberabad police are investigating both cases, and authorities have urged the public to exercise caution when booking travel services online.