Juinagar Couple Duped Of ₹1.56 Lakh By Fake Instagram Travel Agents For Bali Trip

Navi Mumbai: What was meant to be a dream vacation to Bali turned into a nightmare for a 29-year-old Juinagar resident after he and his wife were stopped at Mumbai Airport and informed that the flight tickets they had received for their Indonesia trip were completely fake. The couple had allegedly been duped of Rs 1.56 lakh by cyber fraudsters posing as travel agents through an Instagram page.

Victim Found B2B Bali DMC Page on Instagram

According to Nerul Police, the complainant, Pranay Salvi, had planned a post-marriage trip to Bali after getting married in November 2024. While browsing Instagram for travel destinations, he came across a page named B2B Bali DMC, which featured attractive videos and advertisements promoting Bali tour packages.

After clicking on the page's contact link and sharing his mobile number, Salvi was contacted on WhatsApp on September 25, 2024, by a man identifying himself as Vibhu Gupta alias Aryan. The accused offered him a Bali tour package for Rs 80,276 and quoted another Rs 81,000 for return flight tickets.

Salvi Paid ₹1.56 Lakh in Multiple Instalments

Trusting the offer, Salvi transferred a total of Rs 1,56,850 through his credit card in multiple instalments between October 28 and December 25, 2024, using payment links provided by the accused.

Once the payments were made, the accused collected Aadhaar and passport details of Salvi and his wife before sending them return flight tickets purportedly issued by Batik Air.

Airline Officials Declared Tickets Forged at Check-In

However, when the couple reached Mumbai Airport on December 28 to board their flight, airline officials informed them that the tickets were forged and no reservation existed in their names.

After discovering the fraud, Salvi repeatedly tried contacting the accused, but the phone had been switched off. Despite several follow-ups, he neither received a refund nor any satisfactory response, following which he approached Nerul Police.

Based on his complaint, Nerul Police have registered a case against the unidentified accused under Sections 316(2), 318(4), 336 and 340 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act. Further investigation is underway.

Police have advised citizens to avoid transferring money to unverified travel agents or social media pages and to book overseas trips only through authorised travel agencies or official websites. They have also urged victims of online financial fraud to immediately report such incidents on the National Cyber Helpline (1930) or at the nearest police station.

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