Six college students from Rajasthan have been apprehended for running a cyber scam that preyed on pilgrims seeking lodging at guest houses managed by the Shree Somnath Trust. The State Cyber Centre of Excellence took action following complaints from pilgrims who had reserved rooms at specific guest houses but found no record of their bookings in the Trust’s system. The accused created fake websites resembling the official booking portal, luring victims to make payments through deceptive means.
The fraudulent websites mimicked the original site’s design and features, using AI tools to enhance authenticity. Victims were duped into making advance payments via QR codes, UPI, and bank transfers, with some being misled through links for online puja or donations. The culprits employed paid online promotion to boost the visibility of their fake sites in Google searches and utilized location-altering apps to disguise their operations.
The scam came to light when victims arrived at the guest houses and discovered the deception. A technical investigation traced the operation to a rented property in Jaipur, where the six accused students had been operating for about five months. The arrested individuals, identified as Sachin Harsana, Abhishek Upadhyay, Rajkumar Pratap, Shersingh, Madhav Gurjar, and Vishnukum Avatar, are all college students from Rajasthan. The police disclosed that the fraudsters used sophisticated AI tools to fabricate convincing websites, leading to a string of cyber fraud complaints nationwide.
