The increasing trend where people fall prey to different kinds of fraud happening over the internet is eye witnessed. Very recently, ₹93,600 lost in a hotel booking by Shreya Mitra, a content creator, hits the headlines.
Shreya was planning a trip to Puri and searched for hotels online. She Googled “Mayfair Heritage Puri” and clicked on the first search result, believing it to be real. She found the contact details and called for a reservation. The scammers sent her images and room information, convincing her to make the telephonic payment.
The scammers had provided her a fake invoice; on the other hand, when Shreya insisted on receiving an email confirmation, they told her that their “system was down”. The next day, again they called her and advised her to open Google Pay, click pay, and put in a booking ID to confirm.
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Shreya became suspicious and would not follow their directions. She insisted that a confirmation email be sent, and they hung up. Upon realization that she had been conned, Shreya found the real contact information for Mayfair Heritage Puri and confirmed that the listing she had was fake.
Shreya shared her experience through an Instagram post: “It’s hard to understand if it’s a fake Mayfair when the first search takes you to the fake webpage and details for Mayfair Heritage Puri. The scammers are still scamming people, the number is still active, and they have multiple bank accounts.
Please share it forward especially if you’re in the East because many people look at booking during the holiday season.” She added, “Well, the money is gone. The police will try to catch them but, once the money is encashed, there’s less or no chance of recovery. The best is if the racket is caught. As far as I’m concerned, I’m okay; I have accepted this as having happened. There is much I have to learn.
