NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) cyber security arm I4C on Saturday issued a nationwide alert about a sharp rise in online booking frauds, mostly targeting religious pilgrims and unsuspecting tourists.Officials said the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) said that the cyber frauds are noticed to be executed through fake websites, social media pages, WhatsApp accounts and sponsored advertisements on platforms like Google and Facebook.A senior MHA official said, “The I4C has alerted the public about online booking frauds, especially those targeting religious pilgrims and tourists across the country.” According to I4C, these scams lure victims with offers like helicopter bookings for Kedarnath and the Char Dham yatra, guest house and hotel accommodations, online cab or taxi services, and religious tourism packages, they said.Even as such websites and their profiles apparently look legitimate, users, who make payments, often receive no confirmation or service, and are unable to contact the service providers afterwards.“To protect citizens, I4C urges the public to remain vigilant and verify the authenticity of websites before making any payments. It asked the public to be cautious while clicking on sponsored or unfamiliar links on Google, Facebook, or WhatsApp and use only official government websites or trusted travel agencies for bookings,” the official said.It is also informed that in a bid to counter the menace, the I4C is employing a multi-pronged strategy like scam signal exchange with intermediaries like Google, WhatsApp, and Facebook to flag and remove suspicious content; enforcement under which identification of cybercrime hotspots and coordination with state and UT police for local action; and cyber patrolling to detect and takedown of fake sites, the officials said.They added that the agency is also considering provisioning hassle-free reporting through a feature on the cybercrime portal, which now allows quick verification and reporting of suspicious websites.
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