Tirupati: COVID-19 restrictions have been helpful for scammers to mislead devotees of Lord Venkateswara by offering them tickets to darshan at Tirumala temple. There are also others who are advertising jobs on behalf of Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), who run affairs at the holy site, and cheat the unemployed.
Surprisingly, this continues to happen despite the TTD, which runs the hill temple affairs, warning people not to be misled by brokers or fake websites offering darshan or job recruitment.
Several cases have been reported in the recent past, where devotees trying to book darshan or obtain Arjitha Seva tickets online have been misled by fake portals.
A senior temple official said: “There are false portals or intermediaries that target devotees looking for the most coveted Arjitha Seva or tickets to break darshan at the Tirumala temple. Using keywords, they attract a browser to their portals, collect details, ask them to pay for their darshan online, and collect tickets to be emailed upon checkout. Only later do the devotees realize that they have been scammed. “The TTD has identified more than 20 fake websites and filed complaints with the police, which are under investigation.
Meanwhile, a post stating that TTD has posted a notice to recruit security guards went viral on social media recently. Making a serious exception, TTD clarified that such recruitment is not taking place and also registered a case against the man responsible for the social media post.
In a statement Sunday, TTD surveillance officials stated that despite repeated appeals, some devotees continue to be targeted by scammers.
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