Noida: Travel scam busted, 32 people arrested, including 17 women

A team of Noida police on Saturday busted a massive scam allegedly involving fake travel packages by arresting 32 people, including 17 women, from a bogus travel agency, police said. The arrests came after a resident complained that the company had allegedly defrauded her ₹84,000 by offering a fake package for nine days, the police said, adding that they are verifying the amount of money they earned from such scams.

“It was a well-organized syndicate that used deceptive tactics to dupe people under the guise of holiday passes,” DCP Shakti Mohan Awasthi (Noida Central) said. The scam involved cold calling potential victims using contact details obtained from the dark web, followed by persuasive presentations at their homes. Payments were collected in cash or bank transfers, but promised services were never delivered and requests for refunds were ignored, police added.

According to police, 24-year-old Ankita Kumar, the leader of the group, and Ajay Kishore are among the prime suspects. Police have not released where they were from or the names of the other suspects, citing the ongoing investigation. Earlier, the gang targeted people living far away from Noida so that they could not report them to the police, however, the police received both online and offline complaints against the company involved in the scam. Two bank accounts linked to the bogus firm were also seized, police added.

The complaint was filed on November 28, 2024, after the victim alleged that the company failed to provide promised hotel reservations or refunds. A police raid on November 29 uncovered significant evidence, including laptops, tablets, routers and documents related to the fraud.

The investigation revealed that the company operated under a membership model, offering fake travel deals. “Victims who contacted customer support faced evasive responses and were often blocked after repeated complaints,” Awasthi added. Earlier, the company was flagged as a scam, its accounts were frozen by the Bengaluru police and complaints were registered in Raigad, Maharashtra.

Among the 32 defendants aged between 19 and 37 were high-ranking officials and group leaders. They were booked under Sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust) and 318(4) (organized fraud) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act. Police are investigating the role of high-ranking officials and financial beneficiaries in the fraud.