Better safe than sorry when dealing with online entities

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The Mumbai police recently arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly duping vacationers on the pretext of online booking of villas and bungalows. He would often stay put in luxury hotels to evade arrest, a police officer said stating he faces nearly 20 such cases.

The arrest came on a complaint filed by a woman who claimed she was cheated of R90,000 after she tried to make an online booking for a villa at Alibaug for a vacation.

According to the complainant, she came across a website and was asked to pay Rs 90,000 to book a villa. Closer to the booking date, the person she was in touch with became unreachable, in what is now a familiar pattern.

The holiday fraud is now quite widespread with many people losing money through some fake websites, operated by con operators. This follows a pattern where websites spring up under exotic and alluring names. They show pictures of stunning vistas and picture postcard locales. The accommodation shown is inviting and discounts and bargains are touted.

Then, the person is told to book quickly. Post money received, the frauds disappear as the holiday date nears. Sometimes, those who have paid are told that the rooms got sold out and they will get a refund or will be given another time for a vacation which does not happen.

Exercise caution when booking online. There are genuine people but check and double check. Call the hotel or resorts numbers at odd times and see the response you get. Look if there is another website with a very similar name. Ask to talk to people in the hotel and ask for details. Check if they have an offline, physical office space in your city.

Do not pay whopping amounts to book. There are so many red flags and even if one is raised, desist clicking that link and go by the dictum: when in doubt, check it out.