Pickpocketing: This is one of the most prevalent scams in crowded tourist areas. Thieves work in teams and create distractions to steal wallets, phones, and other valuables from unsuspecting tourists. Be cautious in crowded places and keep your belongings secure.

Fake Petitions: Scammers approach tourists with a clipboard or a petition to sign, often claiming to support a charitable cause. While you’re distracted signing the document, they may pickpocket you or ask for a donation and disappear with the money.

Street Games: You may encounter street performers or “friendly locals” inviting you to participate in games like shell games or card tricks. These games are designed for you to lose money, as the organizers are skilled at manipulating the outcome.

Fake Tickets: Be cautious when buying tickets from unauthorized vendors or individuals on the street. Scammers may sell counterfeit tickets for attractions, events, or public transportation.

Unofficial Tour Guides: Some scammers pose as unofficial tour guides and offer their services at a low cost. However, they may lead you to overpriced shops or demand more money midway through the tour.

Fake Police Officers: Scammers may pretend to be police officers and ask to see your identification or search your belongings. They might use this as an opportunity to steal from you. Always ask for official identification and if in doubt, go to the nearest police station.

Restaurant Scams: In some tourist areas, restaurants may charge exorbitant prices for meals or add hidden fees to the bill. Always check the menu prices before ordering and review your bill carefully.

ATM Skimming: Be cautious when using ATMs, especially in busy tourist spots. Scammers may install skimming devices to steal your card information and PIN.

To protect yourself from these scams:

• Stay vigilant and aware of your surroundings.
• Keep your belongings secure and use a money belt or anti-theft bag.
• Avoid displaying valuable items like expensive jewelry or electronics.
• Only use authorized vendors and official ticket offices.
• Research common scams in the specific country or city you’re visiting.
• Trust your instincts; if something feels off or too good to be true, it probably is.
• By being informed and cautious, you can enjoy your trip to Europe without falling victim to tourist scams.

Dangerous Tourist Scams in Europe

To deceive customers, they assure availability even during high-demand periods, exploiting the urgency and trust of the pilgrims. Once payment is made, the scammers provide fake tickets, hotel vouchers, or charter confirmations. The truth is revealed only when the pilgrims reach the helipad or hotel and realize the fraud. This not only disrupts their journey but also shatters their faith and trust.

Sadly, this menace extends beyond Kedarnath and Char Dham, permeating various cities across India. Scams are prevalent in Vaishno Devi helicopter bookings, temple donations, and hotel reservations in places like Ujjain and Puri. Scammers manipulate search results, making it difficult for customers to distinguish between genuine hotel contacts and fraudsters.

To protect pilgrims from falling victim to these scams, we are committed to providing timely information on new fraudulent tactics and maintaining the sanctity of Kedarnath and Char Dham. We will continuously update our platform with verified and reliable sources, ensuring your safety and preventing you from being cheated.

Please be cautious and avoid engaging with suspicious websites or individuals claiming to provide exclusive services. We urge you to rely on trusted sources and official websites for Chardham Yatra Helicopter bookings, Kedarnath hotel reservations, and other pilgrimage-related services. By staying informed and vigilant, we can collectively safeguard the sanctity of these holy places and preserve the spirit of our spiritual journeys.

How to Stay Safe

To protect yourself, we will periodically provide you with the links to their websites so that you can come here and check their websites. This way, you can ensure that you are not on any scammer’s website. We will also continue to list all those websites here so that you can stay safe from scammers.

Fake Websites

https://www.helicopterticketbooking.in, https://radheheliservices.online, https://kedarnathticketbooking.co.in, https://heliyatrairtc.co.in, https://kedarnathtravel.in, https://instanthelibooking.in, https://kedarnathticketbooking.in, https://kedarnathheliticketbooking.in, https://helicopterticketbooking.co.in, https://indiavisittravels.in, https://tourpackage.info, https://heliticketbooking.online, http://vaisnoheliservice.com, https://helichardham.in, https://irtcyatraheli.in, https://helipadticket.in, https://www.aonehelicopters.site, https://vaishanotravel.com, http://vaishnotourist.com, https://kedarnathhelijounery.in, https://wavetravels.in, http://katraheliservice.com, https://takeuptrip.com, https://www.onlinehelicopterticketbooking.online

Fake Mobile Numbers

8910534898, 7449835880, 9875521979, 9996894999, 9996802099, 7292002437, 9475962382, 8981481604, 8981364825, 9279432617, 9144718678, 9668553346, 6353193767, 6295437040, 6290727303, 7872046183, 8101684922, 8981010441, 8276948662, 9084630322, 8653742439, 8910547209, 6372398610, 8961163537, 8981326032, 7600791758, 8653210601, 9046481738, 7601845128, 9007906249

Beware! This how their messages look like:

WELCOME TO ONLINE HELICOPTER BOOKING SERVICE

CONTACT US

📞+91979-5695-182

info@yatrabookingcom.in

support@yatrabookingcom.in

01.GUPTKASHI TO KEDARNATH ONE WAY HELICOPTER RS. 4,063/-

02.GUPTKASHI TO KEDARNATH TWO WAY HELICOPTER RS. 8,126/-

3.PHATA TO KEDARNATH ONE WAY HELICOPTER RS. 2,887/-

04.PHATA KEDARNATH TWO WAY HELICOPTER RS. 5,774/-

05.SIRSI TO KEDARNATH ONE WAY HELICOPTER RS.  2,886/-

06.SIRSI TO KEDARNATH TWO WAY HELICOPTER RS. 5,772/-

07.KEDARNATH  PACKAGE (01N/02D) RS. 6,999/-

8. CHARDHAM KEDARNATH TO BADHRINATH & GANGOTRI & AMROTRI RS:- 1,85,000

09.Do Dham Yatra Packages               No. of Days     Price

10.Do Dham  Yatra Heli Service         2 Nights / 3 Days          INR 35,000

11. Mata Vaishno Devi One Way 1830
12. Mata Vaishno Devi Two Way 3660

13.SRINAGAR -PAHALGAM (10800 ) ONE WAY PER PERSON

14.SRINAGAR -PAHALGAM (21600 ) TWO WAY PER PERSON

15.SRINAGAR- NEELGARH (BALTAL) (11700) ONE WAY PER PERSON

16.SRINAGAR- NEELGARH (BALTAL) (23400) TWO WAY PER PERSON

17.PAHALGAM – PANJTARNI (4200)ONE WAY PER PERSON

18.PAHALGAM – PANJTARNI (8400)TWO WAY PER PERSON

19.NEELGARH(BALTAL) -PANJTARNI(2800) ONE WAY PER PERSON

20.NEELGARH(BALTAL) -PANJTARNI(5600) TWO WAY PER PERSON

About Us

Note:- Kindly Mention Date of Journey

All Person One I’d Proof

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7Q3vslARbh/

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5yHanuNiSV/

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https://www.instagram.com/p/C4pCJ41Nxkq/

Addressing the programmer he goes on to add, “even if it is a law and order situation or otherwise, Uttarakhand is proud to be the most favorable state for setting up industries in the entire country. Setting up new industries, the GDP will increase, the state budget will skyrocket, and as a result of which there will be many opportunities for the youth of the state. I urge the people responsible for setting up industries in Uttarakhand to provide regional work opportunities in the state no matter which field it is.”

He also called upon everyone to offer their full support and cooperation to propel Uttarakhand in the direction of prosperity and development. “This is a very fruitful period of employment and Industrialisation in the country. Everyone has to prove their mettle and work hard like a Karmayogi. I have no doubt when I say that this decade is the decade for Uttarakhand.”

He went ahead to make the statement that by the 25th foundation day of Uttarakhand, Devbhoomi will be established as the best state in the country.

Dhami informed that the meeting took place with all the industry representatives in Dehradun where they collectively deliberated on solving various challenges they are facing. All the facilities have been simplified and improved for the people’s convenience.

According to chief minister Dhami, the main basic mantras of every government should be simplification, solution, dissolution, and satisfaction.

Referring to one of the most popular pilgrimages of Uttarakhand that sustains a major part of the state’s economy, Dhami informed that till now over 30 lakh pilgrims have visited Chardham this year, and is on its way to etching a historical new record for Chardham Yatra. As far as the recent Kanwar Mela is concerned, he said that over 4 Crore devotees were welcomed by the hill state which is a massive new record in itself.

Article Source: https://theprint.in/india/uttarakhand-most-industry-friendly-state-in-india-cm-dhami/1090951/

This unwanted misunderstanding leads to a number of quarrels and scuffles in the hotels, between the hotel staff and the victims. In some cases, even the police have been involved who have only been able to solve a couple of such cases. They are continuously warning people to be on high alert, especially while booking a hotel or helicopter for Char Dham.

A maximum number of these cyber fraud cases is being done in the matter of Kedarnath helicopter booking in the name of Patanjali, which is based in Haridwar. So far, over 30 cases of fraud has been registered in different police stations across the state of Uttarakhand. These cases involve Heli services, and yoga or Ayurvedic medicine treatment in Patanjali.

City SP Sarita Doval informed that a majority of these fraudulent gangs belong to the Nawada district of Bihar. A couple of days ago, the STF successfully raided and arrested 2 cyber thugs from the said place.

What is the fraud trick?

According to sources, devotees are relying completely on online ticket booking sources. They are continuously on the lookout for online booking options for Kedarnath helicopter services as well as Patanjali ashram services in Haridwar. Cyber frauds and thugs are taking advantage of the fact that people are regularly searching for the said services. They go ahead and prepare a fake, parallel website to draw in potential victims. Once there, the devotees are then cheated in the name of ticket booking from these websites. The hub for creating fake parallel websites and fake bookings can be traced to Nawada.

Be aware of frauds:

https://heliservices.uk.gov.in/  This is the official website for helicopter bookings. Don’t give money to anyone. There are fake people/agencies in the market who are making scams in the name of Kedarnath Heli Tickets, so be aware.

A few things will help you become a victim of these scams.

Don’t make payment via Google Pay, Paytm, Phone Pe, or nor scan any QR code. Avoid making payments online. Ask them to send their bank account details.

Once you receive their bank A/c go to your nearest bank and Check the A/c Name (Beneficiary  Name) with the bank to see whether this A/c name belongs to this A/c or not. They usually put their A/C name in the name of Pawan Hans Limited, GMVN Limited, Uttarakhand Tourism, etc. and in the A/c number they keep their personal A/C number, so people know that they are paying government organizations.

Request them to send their GST Number with other licence, which they received from govt. If they send you a GST number, check that GST number on GST Portal whether this GST number belongs to them or it is invalid, or it belongs to any other company.

Check their registration on the Uttarakhand website to see if they have been approved by the Uttarakhand government.

While searching on Google, their site appears. When you click and visit their website, you will find they are selling different sector helicopter tickets. They will give you the option to book now. When you click on “book now,” which will take you to WhatsApp, where they will start chatting with you and offer you the tickets.

Normally, an approved travel agency does not sell only Kedarnath helicopters tickets

Here is how they do it:

Step 1 – Google Adwords Boost

The scammers utilize the Google Adwords facility to boost their fake websites. Google Adwords is a service that boosts a website in the search result list. Trending keywords are used by launch advertisements like book helicopters for Maa Vaishno Devi, Kedarnath, etc. the fraud advertisement is then displayed on top search results, all over India, along with contact details.

Due to its pan-India reachability, Google Adwords has proven to be the most convenient way for scammers to reach out to a large group of victims.

Step 2 – Fraud Website

The scam websites are easy to spot. They normally use cheap website domains with the help of the exact same theme. It will also normally contain a ‘ Book Now’ button, clicking on which will lead you to a WhatsApp chat. If you go deeper, then you will realize that a majority of these websites are recently or rather newly created. The website follows a common theme that is often replicated.

Step 3 – Whatsapp Chatting

In fraudulent cases, mostly WhatsApp business accounts are used that generate an automatic response to the victim. They will then ask for your valid government ID proof as well as payment. These fraudsters may even give you a regular or a WhatsApp call that is always preceded with a greeting like “Jai Mata Di”. In order to invoke trust, the scammers even share their edited and photo-shopped fake IDs.

Step 4 – Bank Account Transfer

In order to gain trust, public sector banks like SBI are used. They even go ahead and share the IFSC code of Katra bank, which is completely fake. You have to be aware here, as, during transactions, the bank does not validate useless information like IFSC code and account name making all that information sharing completely useless and rather easier to spot fraud.

Step 5 – The Fake Professional Ticket PDF

In order to make the fraud look more believable, every victim is provided with a very real-looking, professionally edited, and photoshopped ticket in PDF form. Many victims have carried this PDF ticket form to Katra only to find out that no such tour company exists in the first place. This is a very daunting and harrowing experience for the pilgrims who fall into this trap.

The scammers even go to the extent of providing a genuine GST number on the fake ticket that belongs to some other genuine helicopter service provider company.

How to save yourself from this fraud?

In order to spot fraud helicopter yatra providers, you need to be one step ahead of them and always be in charge. Here is how you can do that:

1. Install the Ad-block add-on in your browser – this will block out any sort of advertisement in the search result section.
2. Make sure to go through reviews, testimonials, and company background before booking any yatra package. The only book from trusted travel companies.
3. In case you have been a victim of this cruel fraud, then make sure to register your complaint at cybercrime.gov.in. Also, call up helpline number 1930 or report the case to your nearest police station.