Four fraudsters held for duping tourists through online booking of non-existent villas in Goa

Panaji: Four persons were arrested on Monday for allegedly cheating hundreds of tourists by making fake bookings for them in non-existing villas in Goa through online platforms, police said.

The accused operated out of a rented place in Hyderabad and had been duping tourists since 2022, ssuperintendent of police, Goa north, Akshat Kaushal said.

The accused, Saurabh Duseja, a resident of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, and Hyderabad residents Sayed Ali Mukhtar, Mohammad Firoz and Mohammad Azharuddin Saif, were involved in the multi-crore scam.

Kaushal said that the scam came to light following a complaint by a Chandigarh resident, who was cheated of `20,000 while attempting to book a villa online. Upon arriving at the location, he discovered the villa did not exist.

“Operating from a rented room in Hyderabad, the accused would field calls from potential victims and use female telephone operators to build trust,” he said.

Kaushal said that the gang dupes unsuspecting tourists by exploiting loopholes on online booking platforms.

“The accused cheated tourists by listing non-existent properties for rent and collected advance payments through multiple bank accounts,” he said.

The SP said the Goa police recently received several complaints about online fraudsters targeting tourists.

“The victims said they were duped by fake villa listings on online booking platforms, where they were asked to pay advance for non-existent properties. As per initial investigations, more than 500 people have fallen prey to this scam. Efforts are underway to contact the victims and formally record their complaints,” he said.