Victims of a travel scam are seeking help from authorities after seeing their plans for exciting summer holidays dashed.
Ten individuals and families have come forward, claiming that they have been scammed out of nearly BD3,500, after falling prey to an elaborate scheme that started with them being invited to take part in a draw at a popular shopping mall.
“At this major retail outlet, my family was approached to participate in a draw for travel packages. When they called us a few days later to inform us that we had won, we were invited to a four-star hotel, where we were pressured into buying travel packages that would have saved us hundreds of dinars,” Sunil Thomas, one of the affected individuals, told the GDN.
“We were supposed to fly on May 16, and have not heard from the company. All attempts at contacting them by WhatsApp or phone call have been ignored.
“We have filed cases at the local police station and also reached out to the Indian Embassy as well as authorities in India to ask for help in finding these individuals.”
Mr Thomas reported that he paid BD475 for a 10-day trip from Bahrain to Malaysia and Maldives, with a return to Cochin, India, for himself, his wife and two children. The package included flights, four-star hotel and beach resort stays, city tours and transfers.
Other individuals, most of them Indian nationals, affected by the scam reported having paid amounts ranging from BD100 to BD955 each for travel packages across Asia and Europe.
“Their agent met me at a major shopping mall and said if your name comes in the lucky draw, then the company would call me and the next day I received a call from them saying that I have won a holiday trip to Europe with family,” one of the victims, who requested anonymity, added.
“They asked me to come to their office located at Gudaibiya to book the package. They promised to give the maximum discount for European countries’ tour and asked me to pay the full amount in advance to register my name and apply for the Schengen Visa, telling me that I would get an email by May 10, but they have not sent any.
“When I tried to contact them, their mobile phones were unreachable. So I visited the office which was locked and sealed by the authorities and I saw a complaint letter on the door.”
The company allegedly involved in the scam is wholly owned by an Indian national, who has been unreachable for the past week. The GDN attempted to contact the firm and was not able to reach the alleged fraudsters.
The victims have now formed a group to approach authorities to address the matter and have been working with the Pravasi Legal Cell (PLC) – Bahrain chapter for legal aid to resolve the matter.
The Indian Embassy told the GDN that so far, one complaint had been registered against the company.
“We have forwarded the grievance to the authorities concerned in India for looking into the matter,” the embassy’s welfare wing added.
Documents seen by the GDN show that in addition to filing cases at the local police station, members of the group have approached Indian government officials including External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishanker, Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah, Indian Ambassador to Bahrain Vinod K Jacob, as well as state chief ministers and heads of police, for help in resolving the case.
Indian Member of Parliament Anto Antony representing Pathanamthitta, Kerala, has acknowledged the complaint and forwarded it to Dr Jaishanker.
naman@gdnmedia.bh
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