Man held for duping hotel customers through fake website in Delhi

New Delhi, Jul 10 (PTI) A man was apprehended from Haryana’s Nuh for running a fake hotel booking website and duping people by posing as a representative of a reputed luxury hotel chain, Delhi Police said on Thursday.

The accused, identified as Sharukh Khan (25), used to lure victims through fraudulent websites that mimicked official portals of high-end hotels, said police.

A case under relevant sections of the BNS was registered and a series of raids in the Mewat region of Haryana ledto Khan’s arrest.

“The complaint alleged that while searching online to book a room at a reputed luxury hotel chain in Goa, he came across a website resembling the hotel’s official site. He contacted a number listed on the portal and was assured of an immediate booking after making an advance payment,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Amit Goel said.

Though the complainant was initially asked to pay 50 per cent of the amount, he was later convinced to pay the full Rs 33,000 via Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on the pretext that split payments were not being accepted by the system, he added.

The defrauded amount was credited to a private bank account, and the domain of the fake website had been registered using bogus credentials, the officer said.

The police recovered the two mobile phones and a handset used in the scam from the accused. The numbers were found to be active on fraudulent portals shortly after the original incident.

“During interrogation, Sharukh disclosed that he operated alone and developed fake hotel web portals with assistance from an associate named Naseem, a resident of Punhana in Haryana. Efforts are underway to trace and apprehend Naseem,” the officer said. PTI SSJ APL TRN3 APL MPL MPL