Online temple offering, prasad or puja booking
A website or page copies a temple and takes payment for pujas, prasad or darshan that are never arranged.
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How it works
- You search online or see a post for a famous temple's puja, prasad delivery or darshan booking, and land on a page made to look like the temple's own.
- You pay through UPI or a link for a special puja, abhishek or VIP darshan, and get a receipt or a call from a "priest".
- No puja is done and no prasad comes, and sometimes they ask for more money for extra rituals or "dosha" removal.
What it looks like
Example messages. Numbers and links are masked.
Book special abhishek puja at the temple in your family's name. Prasad delivered home. Pay Rs 2,100 to book: temple-puja-booking[.]in
Panditji here. Your puja is booked, but for full benefit a havan of Rs 5,100 is needed today. Please send on this UPI.
Red flags
- Web address different from the temple's official site
- Payment to a personal UPI ID
- VIP darshan "guaranteed" for a fee
- Extra money asked after the first booking
The one question to ask
Did you reach this booking page through the temple's official website or office, or through an ad or a forward?
Already paid or shared details?
Call 1930 at once: in the first hour the money can often still be frozen before it moves on. Then call your bank on the number printed on your card, and file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in with screenshots of every message and payment.
1930 · cybercrime.gov.in
Also seen as
- Fake room or dharamshala bookings in pilgrim towns
- Fake helicopter or travel bookings for a pilgrimage
- Online astrology remedy or "dosha" puja