Cyber fraud: Noida woman duped of ₹1 lakh while booking hotel in Kedarnath online
PremiumThe Noida woman was trying to book a hotel in Kedarnath online.
A 36-year-old Noida woman was defrauded of around ₹1 lakh by a cyber scammer who contacted her after she had attempted to book a hotel room in Kedarnath online and tricked her by sending repeated QR codes through WhatsApp for an advance payment. According to the officials, an FIR has been filed at the nearby Sector 113 police station based on the woman's complaint, and an inquiry into the matter has begun.
"The complainant stated that in May she was searching for a hotel in Kedarnath on Google for a trip she had planned for June. A couple of days after the search, she got a call from an unknown number in which the caller identified himself as a representative of a hotel in Kedarnath," a police official said, citing the FIR.
The event allegedly occurred on May 18, but the FIR was filed on Monday, and the woman (36), who resides in Noida's Sector 75, claimed a total loss of ₹95,604 in the complaint.
"Later, that representative, who identified himself as Nitin Kumar, contacted the woman over Whatsapp and shared pictures of a hotel and other details, including the tariff, of the facility," the official said.
According to the police, the thug then demanded that she confirm the booking and pay Rs. 2,000, or half of the total price. Then, he used WhatsApp to send the woman a QR code for ₹2,000; however, when she tried to pay, she lost ₹4,000 from her account. The official claimed that the man afterwards claimed it was an error and sent her a new QR code for a refund, but each time she lost money from her account.
"The caller then said that he had mistakenly entered a wrong code because of which the trouble started. He once again sent a QR code to return the money, but this time the woman lost ₹9,901 from her account. Ultimately the woman ended up losing ₹95,604 from her account," the official said.
The phone went unreachable when the woman tried to call it, and it was eventually turned off. According to the FIR, she later had her bank account closed out of concern for further money loss. According to a Sector 113 police official, the investigation has begun because the FIR was filed under the provisions of the Information Technology Act and Indian Penal Code section 420 (cheating).
In the meanwhile, authorities advised the general public to promptly report any instances of cybercrime by calling either 1930 or 112. In order to avert problems, they have also urged the public to exercise caution when making financial transactions online. The Noida police's cyber cell would look into the situation, the officer said.
(With PTI inputs)
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