IRCTC Ticket Booking Scam Exposed, Here's Why Train Tickets Disappear Within Minutes

New Delhi: Have you ever tried booking a train ticket the moment IRCTC opens the booking window, only to find everything already sold out within minutes? You're not alone. According to a report by The Times of India, IRCTC has uncovered a massive scam behind this issue that’s been troubling passengers across India.

Between January and May 2025, IRCTC identified 2.9 lakh suspicious ticket bookings (PNRs) that were made within just five minutes of the booking window opening. These weren't regular passengers but fraudsters using automated tools and fake user accounts to block tickets.

As per The Times of India, the Indian Railways took strong action during this period. Over 2.5 crore fake user IDs were deactivated, and another 20 lakh IDs were flagged for re-verification. Most of these accounts were created using disposable email addresses — temporary email IDs used only a few times — making it difficult to trace the culprits.

These fake agents would book large numbers of tickets and later sell them to genuine passengers at inflated prices. Officials said the problem was especially severe on high-demand routes and during busy travel seasons.

In response, IRCTC has now implemented anti-BOT technology to detect whether the person booking a ticket is a real human or a software bot. Along with that, they're using a Leading Content Delivery Network to speed up and secure their booking system.

The Times of India report also states that 134 complaints have already been filed on the National Cyber Crime Portal, and over 6,800 fake email domains have been blocked as part of the crackdown.

Officials emphasized that genuine travelers aren’t to blame — there truly is a shortage of confirmed tickets. To tackle this, the Railways is working to add more trains and increase seat capacity on busy routes.

The anti-fraud campaign will continue, ensuring that more real passengers have a fair chance at booking their tickets directly and safely.