Four people have been taken into custody for scamming visitors by taking money from them and renting fictitious villas that never existed.

Since 2022, more than 500 travelers have been tricked into renting villas for their vacation in Goa. Following multiple complaints from tourists and by monitoring the fraudulent actions online, the North Goa Police were able to uncover the multi-crore scam.

The scammers, who are all headquartered outside of Goa, would post phony villas for vacation rentals in Goa on reputable websites like Booking.com. From gullible travelers, they would obtain upfront money. But when the tourists arrived in Goa, they discovered that the involved booking agents’ phones were turned off.

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goa scams

Pankaj Dhimar, a resident of Chandigarh, complained to the Goa police, and as a result, a formal report was made. He said that Rs 20,000 had been stolen from him.

Four people were apprehended by Goa Police when they started investigating this online scam: Mohammed Firoz, Mohammed Azharuddin Saif, Sayed Ali Mukhtar, and 37-year-old Saurabh Duseja.

In order to establish confidence, the accused would take calls from possible victims and employ female telephone operators. The accused had reserved a leased accommodation in Hyderabad. One suspect was located in Jaipur, and three others were located in Hyderabad.

Both visitors and residents have been cautioned by the North Goa Police to be on the lookout for such scams and avoid falling for them.

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