Now Reading: Two held for 126 AI-made fake religious websites duping 22,000
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Two held for 126 AI-made fake religious websites duping 22,000
Gujarat Police's Cyber Centre of Excellence has arrested two men allegedly behind a network of 126 fake websites impersonating religious sites, dharamshalas and hotels across 11 states. The accused, Vikikumar Gupta from…
The Story in Brief
Gujarat Police's Cyber Centre of Excellence has arrested two men allegedly behind a network of 126 fake websites impersonating religious sites, dharamshalas and hotels across 11 states. The accused, Vikikumar Gupta from Delhi and Shailesh Saini from Rajasthan, used AI-generated images to make portals look genuine and collected advance payments for room bookings, puja and VIP darshan. Police say 21,985 people were cheated, with the fraud running into crores of rupees.
The websites targeted major pilgrimage centres including Somnath, Dwarka, Tirupati, Katra and Shirdi. Victims only discovered the fraud when their bookings did not exist. Investigators have found over 70 complaints on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Two special police teams have been deployed outside Gujarat to trace domain purchasers and money trails.
The Indian Opinion
The narrative that AI is the new villain in cyber fraud misses the point. These fake booking websites are an old scam, the gang just used AI pictures to look credible. The real issue is that thousands of pilgrims still lack a trusted, government-verified platform to book services at major temples and dharamshalas. Will state tourism boards now create official booking portals that can be easily checked? That simple test will show whether this arrest leads to lasting safety or just another headline.
Sources (2): indiatoday.in, assamtribune.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
