Two members of an organized cyber fraud syndicate from Bihar have been arrested for duping pilgrims in the name of helicopter bookings for Char Dham Yatra after a week-long operation based on technical evidence, banking trails and analysis of mobile phone data, police said on Tuesday.
Cyber fraudsters are exploiting the yatra rush with fake booking offers, prompting the Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) to intensify its drive against cyber fraud.
Deepak Kumar and Vijit Kumar, in their 20s, used fake pages on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to lure pilgrims seeking helicopter tickets, said Ajay Singh, senior police inspector. He added that the arrests came as part of an investigation into a fraud case through the seizure of a fake helicopter.
He said: “During the investigation, we found forged helicopter tickets provided by the accused to the complainant. Accordingly, additional sections relating to forgery and use of forged documents were added to the case.”
Police said the scammers posed as service providers and authorized agents for helicopter services and operated fake social media pages and websites.
Singh said the pilgrims were targeted through social media and messaging platforms and were lured with promises of VIP Hajj, instant ticket confirmation, and limited seating. “Our investigation revealed that the gang used multiple bank accounts opened in the names of different individuals as illegal accounts. The fraudulent funds were transferred to these accounts and later withdrawn through ATM cards.”
The STF said bank accounts linked to the arrested accused were found to be linked to complaints registered on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, indicating their possible involvement in cases across the country.
