A family in north Calcutta made an advance payment of around ₹50,000 to book seven rooms of a hotel in Puri online, but on arrival, they were told that they did not have any such booking.

Realising they had been cheated, the family complained to the cyber cell.

Police said several such cases have been reported, with people planning their vacation during the summer holidays getting duped by clicking on fraudulent websites.

A. Mitra, a resident of Jagannath Dutta Lane in north Calcutta, reported to the police that he had booked seven rooms in a hotel in Puri.

Mitra and others reached Puri on the morning of April 4. The hotel authorities told him no bookings were made in his or his family’s name.

“The complainant said he had seen a purported web link to the hotel he wanted to book on an Internet search engine. He had clicked on that link and found a phone number. On interacting with a person through the number, the complainant had booked seven rooms from April 4 to April 8,” said an officer of the cyber cell of the north division of Kolkata Police.

The person who claimed to be a hotel employee had requested an advance payment against the total bill of ₹94,500.

“As an advance, the complainant paid ₹47,250 in four separate transactions,” said the officer.

Mitra was told that he would have to pay the remaining money during the check-in.

On April 4, Mitra and his family reached the hotel near the lighthouse off Puri beach around 7.30am.

However, the family was told there was no booking in their name.

The Mitras are not the only ones who have been duped on the pretext of hotel booking, especially during the vacation time of the year.

Several cops and reputable travel agents said the only way to protect oneself from being duped is to either book hotel rooms only through its official website hotel and to cross check with the hotel before making the payment or to hire a reliable booking agent who will ensure 100 per cent refund in case of any fraud or cancellation of the
bookings.

Anil Punjabi, a member of the national committee of the Travel Agents Federation of India, representing the eastern region, said in most cases, people fall victim to such cheats by clicking on unreliable links, lured by discount offers.

“People sometimes get carried away with discount offers and end up clicking on spurious links, thinking they are saving money. People should book hotels directly through the hotel or a reliable travel agent with a human touch,” Punjabi said.

According to senior police officers, the best way to remain safe is to make part payments in small amounts and keep the rest for physical check-in.