Fake ‘Booking.com’ scam busted, cyber cell arrests key accused

New Delhi, Dec 16 (UNI) : The Crime Branch dismantled an online fraud racket involving a fake website and impersonation of the travel platform Booking.com, leading to the arrest of the main accused from Bihar, police said on Tuesday.
Police said the accused allegedly cheated multiple victims by posing as customer support personnel and siphoning money through OTP and UPI-based frauds.
The case came to light after a complainant reported being defrauded of Rs 57,186 while attempting to book a hotel through what appeared to be Booking.com.
The victim, who was accessing the platform from the United States, was contacted by a fraudster posing as Booking.com customer support.
“Under the guise of booking confirmation and assistance, the accused induced the victim to share sensitive OTP and UPI details, resulting in unauthorized transactions,” said Aditya Gautam, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime).
Midway into the probe, the team found that the duped amount was used to pay a credit card bill belonging to the accused himself.
“Technical analysis and financial trails in this case led the investigators to identify the suspect as Pratosh Kumar (26), a resident of Sheikhpura district in Bihar, who is educated up to Class 12,” the officer said.
Raids conducted by the cell resulted in the recovery of three mobile phones and a forged Aadhaar card. Police also retrieved incriminating digital evidence, including WhatsApp chats used to trap victims, DCP Gautam said in his statement.
The mobile numbers used by the accused were found to be linked with as many as 29 complaints registered on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), indicating a wider network of victims.
During the sustained interrogation with him, he allegedly confessed to the crime and admitted that he had transferred the defrauded amount to his own credit card account.
“The team disclosed later that Pratosh has been actively involved in cyber frauds for the past six years, using multiple mobile numbers and fake identity documents to evade detection,” the officer said.
The modus operandi involved impersonating customer support executives of Booking.com and other online platforms, contacting victims for booking confirmations or refunds, and manipulating them into sharing confidential credentials.
Further investigation is underway to identify additional victims and associates involved in this case, the officer stated.