Cyber fraud racket busted: 4 arrested for running fake hotel booking websites across India

JHENJHPURI: In a major breakthrough, the staff of PS Cyber, South-East District, arrested four cyber fraudsters involved in creating and running fake hotel booking websites.

The accused used these fraudulent sites to dupe innocent people on the pretext of online hotel bookings. With their arrest, multiple mobile phones, laptops, and forged digital records have been recovered.

A complaint was received at Cyber Police Station, South-East District from Sh. Shashank Raizada regarding an online fraud of ₹68,000, committed on the pretext of hotel booking at JW Marriott, Chandigarh, on August 19.

Accordingly, a case FIR was registered and an investigation was taken up.

The 144-hour interstate operation spanning across five states was launched between 23rd and 31st October 2025

Based on technical surveillance and local intelligence, a raid was conducted in Village Jhenjhpuri, District Deeg (Rajasthan). This led to the arrest of the three accused persons on October 24, namely, Sharup (26), Ekrar (27), and Sohail (24). All were residents of village Jhenjhpuri.

During their police custody remand obtained on October 28, devices used in the commission of the offence were recovered from Mewat at their instance.

On analysis of the digital evidence, it was revealed that fraudulent hotel booking websites were created through an online advertising agency named “Adsline”. The owner of Adsline, namely Gopal Singh Karki, resident of village Bhura Kishni, Uttarakhand, was traced and apprehended on October 30. From his possession, devices and electronic gadgets used in creating and running the fake websites were recovered.

The accused persons had devised a sophisticated method of cyber fraud by creating fake websites in the name of reputed five-star hotels across India. They would then push sponsored advertisements on Google, ensuring their fake contact numbers appeared on top search results when potential customers searched for hotel bookings.

Upon receiving calls, the accused posed as hotel receptionists, offered 10-20 per cent discounts on instant online payments, and induced victims to transfer funds. The received payments were redirected to online merchants for the purchase of gold, mobile phones, and electronic gadgets, which were then delivered to different locations. In this particular case, a purchase of gold Jewellery worth Rs 68,000/- was made through the Reliance Jewels website and delivered at a public spot in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

During sustained interrogation, the accused Gopal Singh Karki disclosed that he provided digital marketing and website services to the other co-accused on a commission basis. The gang used to upload fake websites impersonating genuine hotel portals, and the payments made by victims were routed through various accounts controlled by them. The gang was operating across Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttarakhand, and targeted victims searching for online hotel bookings.

Data of over 100 fake hotel websites recovered from the devices of the accused Gopal Singh Karki. (ANI)