The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, under the Union home ministry, on Saturday issued an alert to the public about online booking frauds, especially those targeting pilgrims and tourists across the country.

The ministry said these frauds were perpetrated through fake websites, deceptive social media pages, Facebook posts and paid advertisements on search engines such as Google. These scams involve the creation of professional-looking websites, social media profiles and WhatsApp accounts.

The scamsters usually offer services such as online bookings for helicopters for Kedarnath and Char Dham yatra, guest houses, hotels, cabs, holiday packages and religious tours.

“Unsuspecting individuals, upon making payments through these portals, often realise they have been duped when no confirmation or service is received, and the contact numbers go unreachable,” the ministry said in a statement.

The agency has advised the public to always verify the authenticity of websites before making any payments, double-check before clicking on “sponsored” or unknown links on Google, Facebook or WhatsApp and cross-check bookings only through official government portals or trusted travel agencies.

It has also urged the public to report such websites immediately to cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 in case of any fraud.