25-year-old books flight ticket on web portal, loses over Rs. 1 lakh
According to the complaint, the incident took place on Thursday, when the woman booked her flight from Hyderabad to Mumbai using the travel platform’s mobile app.
mumbai Updated: Jun 10, 2019 04:29 ISTA 25-year-old research analyst at a city-based brokerage firm recently lost more than Rs. 1 lakh while booking a flight ticket from a popular online portal. A first information report (FIR) against an unidentified person was registered at the Dadar police station on Friday.
According to the complaint, the incident took place on Thursday, when the woman booked her flight from Hyderabad to Mumbai using the travel platform’s mobile app. However, despite making the payment, the woman did not receive an e-ticket.
She first complained on the app’s chat option and then looked up the customer care numbers, but found that all lines were busy. She later received a call from a man who claimed to an executive of the service. After the woman told the executive about the issue, she received a soft copy of the ticket on a messaging service. The executive then told her to make the payment. She told him that she had already made the payment, but he insisted that she make a fresh one.
“After she repeatedly refused to do so, the executive asked whether the payment was made from her account. She told him it was and he hung up. When the complainant checked her phone a few hours later, she saw that more than Rs. 1 lakh had been debited from her account in seven transactions,” said an officer from the Dadar police station.
While the woman believes the travel portal is involved in the fraud, the police suggest the accused may have created a fake app resembling the original one. “I believe the portal is involved as the ticket I received was genuine,” the complainant said.
“The fraudsters may have created a duplicate app in the name of the travel portal and obtained the woman’s bank account details. In order to avoid a hurdle, they may have booked a ticket in her name,” said a police source.
Divakar Shelke, senior inspector, Dadar police station, said, “We have written to the company concerned and the bank for details of the transactions. At this stage, we can’t confirm if the company is involved in the fraud.”
First Published: Jun 10, 2019 04:29 IST