PANAJI
North Goa police have cracked down on three major online scam networks that targeted tourists, selling fake water sports tickets, fraudulent homestay bookings and fake claims of selling sex toys through an e-commerce platform.
The police teams have arrested six persons operating these rackets from different places with Superintendent of Police (North Goa) Akshat Kaushal stating the teams were deployed to West Bengal, Delhi and Karnataka to trace and arrest the accused.
The first case, involving fraudulent water sports bookings, came to light after multiple complaints were filed through the 1930 cybercrime portal and email. Kaushal revealed that victims reported that payments were made for water sports services that either did not exist or failed to match advertised offerings.
Two FIRs were subsequently registered at Panaji and Porvorim police stations on February 10 and 11, respectively. The investigation led to Mayank Jain, Harish Jain and Shashank Verma from Delhi who were nabbed.
In another case, a victim seeking a homestay in Goa was duped after booking accommodations via a Facebook group. An advance payment was made to one Dilip Kumar Vishwakarma, who later cut off all communication.
An FIR was filed at Calangute police station on February 12. The SP stated that further investigation revealed similar complaints against the accused from across the country. “Utilising technical intelligence, police traced Vishwakarma to Bidar in Karnataka, where he was taken into custody,” he added.
A third case involved a fraudulent e-commerce operation advertising sex toys with a false claim of local presence. Despite accepting payments, the company never delivered products.
“Upon verification, it was found that the listed business address did not exist. The Panaji police on registering the case found that there were multiple complaints from victims across the country, in this case too. These fraudsters were actively targeting tourists in Goa, taking advantage of their online purchases and lack of local knowledge,” Kaushal said, adding that Shubendhu Kumar Das from West Bengal was apprehended. All the accused were later brought to Goa where they were formally arrested for the offences at the respective police stations.
Last month, North Goa police cracked down on another inter-state cybercrime gang that had been deceiving tourists through fake hotel room bookings on online platforms.
