Scam at Bengaluru airport? Strangers approach with fake boarding pass to gain phone access, warns traveller

While there is no dearth of scams in cities, a new scamming scheme has allegedly come up in Bengaluru. As per a viral video on Instagram, a traveller claimed that two men tried to gain access to his phone, one under the pretext of train ticket booking and another with a fake boarding pass. The video has left netizens shocked.

The video was posted by the Instagram user identified as @ranvijayy_vlogs, who said that scammers ran away once caught. He added that he even confronted one of them on camera, saying, “Come, come to the police, we will talk. Dekho kaise bhaag raha hai. Yeh sab scammers hain, inke jhaanse mein mat aana (Look how he is running away. These people are scammers. Don't fall for them).”

Narrating the whole incident, the traveller said that a man approached him, asking for help to book his train tickets.

''Toh main abhi Bengaluru Airport par hoon, and ek ghante mein do log mil chuke hain mujhe, aur dono scammers the. Matlab ek jo abhi aapne dekha, jo aise bhaag kar nikla hai, woh aake mujhe puchta hai ki uski train tickets book karne ke liye main uski help karun from my phone. Woh bolenge ki mujhe paisa nahi chahiye, bas meri train tickets book karni hain. Main uski shakal dekh kar samajh gaya ki yeh scammer hai aur maine usko wahan se bhaga diya." ("So, I'm currently at Bengaluru Airport, and within just one hour, I've already come across two people, and both of them were scammers. One of them, the person you just saw running away, approached me and asked if I could help him book train tickets using my phone. He said he didn't need any money, only help with booking the tickets. Looking at him, I immediately felt something was off and realized he was a scammer, so I sent him away," he explained.

The young man continued and added that the other person, on the other hand, sought help with the payment of his flight ticket by showing a fake boarding pass.

"Theek hai, phir baad mein mujhe doosra banda mila, ek ladka. Haath mein kuch boarding pass tha uske, jisme scanner lage hue the. Phir woh bol raha tha ki mere se payment nahi ho raha hai, aap meri payment mein help kar doge. Baad mein main aapko paise transfer kar dunga. Phir main wahan par bhi samajh gaya ki yeh bhi scammer hai. Maine usko bhi daanta aur woh bhi wahan se bhaag gaya." ("Then later, I came across another person, a young man. He was holding what looked like a boarding pass with some QR codes on it. He told me that he was unable to make a payment and asked if I could help him complete it. He said he would transfer the money back to me afterward. But I quickly realized that he was also a scammer. I scolded him, and he too ran away from the spot," he added.

“Yeh Bengaluru Airport par hain. Bas apne phone ka access mat dena (This is happening in Bengaluru airport. Don't give them access to your phone).”

Reacting to it, a user wrote in the comments, "The exact same thing happened to me he was trying to entrap my mother."

"Every big city airports has the same story: if you are not aware of anything, you will be scammed at every point," added another.

Someone else also said, "I travelled every month to Bangalore but I never had such kind of incident..."

(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. Live Mint could not independently verify the claims and does not endorse them.)

Sneha Biswas specialises in covering entertainment and pop culture, with a specialisation on Bollywood, Hollywood, OTT platforms, K-pop, K-dramas, and major developments in the US entertainment industry. She believes in telling stories that balance speed with substance, and in making entertainment journalism contextual, culturally aware, and reader-first rather than purely reactive.<br><br> With over six years of experience in digital media, Sneha currently serves as a Deputy Chief Content Producer at Live Mint. She has spent more than three and a half years with the HT Group and returned to the organisation in February 2025, joining Live Mint to uplift the entertainment section. Over the past year, she has been closely involved in entertainment coverage including breaking news, explainers, trend reporting, box office reports and analysis for the audience.<br><br> Sneha is Google News certified, having completed training focused on newsroom best practices, digital reporting, and SEO-driven content strategies. Her work reflects a strong understanding of audience behaviour, search trends, and the evolving consumption patterns of entertainment news across formats.<br><br> Prior to her current role, Sneha has worked across multiple content and editorial functions within digital newsrooms, building expertise in content planning, editing, and real-time coverage. Her professional interests lie at the intersection of entertainment, internet culture, and global pop trends.<br><br> Working for the National city team, Biswas closely follows global entertainment movements while maintaining a strong pulse on what is happening in India.

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