Man duped of Rs1L by ‘customer care staff’

According to the police, the complainant, Omkar Ratnakar, had booked rooms in two hotels in Goa for a family holiday on the travel portal, police said.

The Khadakpada police on Friday registered a case against an unidentified person working at the customer care centre of a travel portal for allegedly cheating a 28-year-old man of ₹1.28 lakh.

The Khadakpada police on Friday registered a case against an unidentified person working at the customer care centre of a travel portal for allegedly cheating a 28-year-old man of ₹1.28 lakh.

According to the police, the complainant, Omkar Ratnakar, had booked rooms in two hotels in Goa for a family holiday on the travel portal, police said.

On June 8, Ratnakar planned to cancel one of reservations and called on the toll-free helpline number of the travel portal.

“The call centre employee [accused] asked for the last four digits of Ratnakar’s debit card, assuring him that the amount would be credited in his account the next day,” said a police officer on the condition of anonymity.

“Around ₹1.28 lakh was withdrawn from Ratnakar’s account the next day. The amount was deducted in installments,” the police officer said.

“Ratnakar then blocked his card and registered a complaint with the Khadakpada police station,” another police officer said.

The police have registered a case against the unknown person, who attended the call at the helpline desk of the travel portal, under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000.