Stranded at Navi Mumbai Airport: A Good‑Samaritan’s ₹21,100 Vanishes After a Sudden Scam

It was just after dawn on 6 October, about 5 a.m., when a nervous young traveler approached a fellow passenger at Navi Mumbai International Airport. The stranger, claiming to be a 21‑year‑old student from Andhra Pradesh, asked in halting English if anyone could help him.

According to the victim’s Reddit post titled “Navi Mumbai Airport Scam,” the man explained that his flight had been cancelled and that he needed to book another one immediately. He showed a screenshot of a joint bank account that supposedly held around ₹40,000, but warned that the OTP for any transaction was being sent to his mother’s phone – a phone that, he said, was on a flight and therefore unreachable.

Feeling a mix of empathy and urgency, the passenger transferred ₹13,600 to the alleged traveler. To “prove” his identity, the scammer sent a photo of his Aadhaar card and a college ID that listed the name Alluru Shyam Prasad, a BTech student at Parul University, born in 1991.

Just five minutes later the same voice called again, this time pleading for an extra ₹7,500 to cover excess‑baggage fees. The donor, still convinced of the man’s honesty, wired the second sum as well. In total, ₹21,100 disappeared into the stranger’s account.

When the donor tried to reach the man at 4 p.m. to request repayment, the “student” promised to send the money back within half an hour – and then blocked the number. Frustrated, the victim lodged a cyber‑crime complaint, only to be told by Koparkhairane Police Station that an FIR could not be registered.

The Reddit thread quickly attracted comments ranging from sympathy to stern warnings. One user wrote, “I’d never hand over even ₹100 to a stranger without meeting them at the ticket counter first.” Others pointed out that similar scams have plagued Indian airports before.

Indeed, a news report from earlier this year featured a man named Modela Venkata Dinesh Kumar, also from Andhra Pradesh, who was arrested for repeatedly duping passengers at airports across the country. Police said he had been wanted in more than ten cheating cases, using emotional stories to coax victims into transferring money.

For the Reddit poster, the experience has shaken his confidence in helping strangers. He concluded his plea with a simple request: “Help me catch this guy – I still don’t think he’s a fraud, but I need proof.” The incident serves as a stark reminder that good intentions, when paired with unchecked trust, can become an easy target for opportunistic scammers.