Festivals and holidays make us loosen up. We open our wallets and splurge more, make plans on a whim, book trips, hunt for bargains anywhere and everywhere, and, now and then, take a chance on an offer that looks too good to ignore. Cybercriminals know this, and they are counting on your support to celebrate ‘their’ happy festivals.
As the festive season picks up pace, social media is filling with offers for Garba partners, holiday packages, hotel rooms, travel deals and event bookings. As it happens with everything in our lives, some of them will be genuine. Others are carefully built traps, designed to get hold of your money and your personal details.
Ahead of Navratri, one unusual offer is doing the rounds: the so-called 'Rent a Garba Partner' service. Alongside it sits an older, more familiar set of scams aimed at holidaymakers, including fake travel websites, bogus agents, hotels that don't exist on the ground and fraudulent payment links.
The method is usually simple. Create excitement, dangle a tempting deal, then hurry the customer into paying or sharing information before they have time to check anything.
'Rent a Garba Partner': Fun Offer or Trap?
Posts offering Garba partners for a fee have surfaced in Ahmedabad and other parts of Gujarat. Some list packages and prices, promising company for a set period, occasionally with matching outfits or photographs thrown in.
The
Ahmedabad cybercrime cell has warned people against paying unknown profiles that advertise such services. Police also advise verifying the identity of anyone you meet through these posts before handing over personal details or money.
The service may not even exist and the post itself could be the trap set up by cybercriminals to trap enthusiastic people, especially youngsters.
Anyone who replies may first be asked to pay a booking fee or an advance. Then comes a QR code, a UPI payment request or a link supposedly needed to confirm the booking. In some versions, the victim is asked to download an app or fill in an online form.
QR codes deserve special attention. A fraudster can talk you into scanning a code and entering your UPI PIN, and voila, money gone from your account.
In the same way, a link from an unknown account may lead to a fake payment page built to harvest card details, banking information or other sensitive data.
So, the warning is not really about Garba alone. Any attractive offer from a stranger that involves an advance payment, a QR code, an unfamiliar link or an app download deserves a second look.
Why Festival Scams Work So Well
Cybercriminals understand something basic about human nature: when we are excited, we act faster, sometimes without even thinking.
During festivals, many among us search for event passes, best (read: exotic but cheap rent) hotel rooms at exotic locations, travel deals and shopping offers all at once. If a post says only a few slots remain, or that a discount will vanish within minutes, many of us feel we must act immediately.
That is exactly what the fraudsters want you to do: act fast and don’t think at all!
A so-called travel agent may claim a hotel room will go to someone else unless an advance is paid right now. Another may offer a heavily discounted holiday package but insist the money goes straight to a UPI ID rather than through a recognised booking platform. The aim is the same each time: to stop you asking one simple question. Is this offer genuine?
The Indian cybercrime coordination centre (I4C) has previously warned about online booking fraud targeting tourists and pilgrims. Its advisory pointed to fake websites, deceptive social media pages, WhatsApp accounts and search advertisements offering hotel bookings, taxis, holiday packages and religious tours. In reported cases, people paid for services they never received.
When a Holiday Turns into a Costly Mistake
Travel scams can be especially painful because the fraud may not come to light until the journey is about to begin, or until you reach the destination.
A fake hotel listing can look entirely convincing. It may borrow the name of a real property, use attractive photographs, show a believable address and sit on a professionally designed website. Fraudsters simply copy pictures and descriptions from genuine hotels. By the time the traveller finds out, the money is usually gone.
There is another trap to watch for: fake customer care numbers.
Say you have made a booking and now need a refund or cancellation. You search online, find a customer care number and call the first one that appears. If it belongs to a fraudster, the person who answers may sound polished and helpful. They may then ask for a one-time passcode (OTP), card details, a UPI payment or access to your phone through a remote-access app. What began as a routine query may end as a full-blown financial fraud.
Verify First, Pay Later
The safest rule is also the simplest: verify first, pay later.
Don't automatically trust a booking link that arrives on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram or SMS. If you are dealing with an unfamiliar hotel, travel operator or event organiser, find its official website and contact details yourself. Never rely on the number or link supplied by the person who approached you.
Check the hotel's location independently. Read reviews on more than one platform. If a hotel property claims to have been running for years but has almost no independent online presence, step back. Similarly, if a property boasts high accolades, awards, or prizes but you can't pinpoint it on the map, it is best to stay away.
Be wary, too, of requests to transfer money to an individual's bank account or UPI ID, especially when a recognised booking platform is available. And remember that a smart-looking and gorgeous website proves nothing. Logos, photographs, designs and even customer reviews can all be copied or generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
10 Ways To Stay Safe
Here are a few simple habits that will safeguard you from most festival and travel scams.
- Check who is behind an offer. Look at the social media account's history and search for independent information. Remember, very good-looking photographs, a number of followers and glowing comments do not make a profile genuine on any social media platform.
- Never scan a QR code to receive money. You do not need a UPI PIN to receive a refund or money. The PIN authorises a payment from your account. If someone asks you to scan a code to 'receive' a refund, stop.
- Be careful with links. A booking confirmation, refund message or festival invitation from an unknown account may hide a malicious link, however urgent or attractive it looks. If you received a short URL, check its origin on a free website like wheregoes.com, which shows you exactly where that tiny URL goes and its full path or actual web link.
- Don't install unknown apps. For a genuine booking or refund, you are not required to install an unfamiliar application at a stranger's request. Never install any such apps that you may receive as an .apk (Android package kit), whether as an installable file or a download link. It may give anyone remote access to your phone.
- Keep OTPs, PINs and passwords private. Banks and legitimate service providers do not need them to complete a normal booking.
- Confirm bookings independently. Before making a large payment, contact the hotel, airline, railway operator, or organiser using details from their official website or a trusted platform.
- Don't let urgency decide for you. 'Pay within 10 minutes', 'last room available' and 'offer expires now' are designed to make you skip the checks. Take a few minutes anyway.
- Keep sensible transaction limits. There is little reason to hold large sums in an account you regularly use for online payments. Or use the account or credit card with lower transaction value limits. For example, if you have not made any online payment of more than ₹10,000 over the past 12 months, keep the same limit. Even if you need to make a payment for a higher amount, you can always increase the limit from the bank’s app.
- Preserve the evidence. If you are scammed, save screenshots, phone numbers, website addresses, profiles, transaction IDs and chats. Don't delete anything that could help investigators.
- Report fraud immediately. Don't wait to see whether the problem sorts itself out. In India, you can report a cyber fraud through the 1930 (free) helpline and the government's cybercrime reporting system. Acting quickly can help authorities trace the money and, where possible, stop it from moving further.
Also, remember, if you are duped in the name of a well-known brand, then there is no point in chasing the brand to resolve your issue. This is because the brand will also be as clueless as you are about how its name is being misused to dupe people. The best the brand can do in this situation is advise you to file a cybercrime complaint.
The festive season should be about Garba, Navratri, Diwali lights, family, friends, travel and good memories, not about chasing a fraudster after your money has vanished.
Whether the bait is a 'Garba partner', a dream holiday, a suspiciously cheap hotel room in an exotic location, or a last-minute booking, the safest habit remains the same: pause, verify, then pay through a validated, official channel.
A few minutes spent checking an offer could spare you hours of dealing with fraud later and help protect your money, personal information and peace of mind.
Stay Alert, Stay Safe!
