Kerala police issues notice to Google, Meta over apps, ads linked to fake lotteries

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala police have issued a notice to Google to remove apps from its Play Store that are selling fake lotteries online in the name of the lottery run by the state. A similar notice was issued to Meta to remove advertisements of such fake lotteries from social media platforms Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram managed by it, the State Police Media Centre said in a release on Wednesday. Police took the action after cyber patrolling revealed that 60 fake lottery apps, 25 fake Facebook profiles and 20 websites are connected to the scam, the SPMC release said. It said that stringent legal action will be taken against those who are behind the fraud. Giving details of the scam, the police said that fake advertisements in the name of ‘Kerala Megamillion Lottery’ and ‘Kerala Summer Season Dhamaka’ have been circulating on social media platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram and Instagram for some time stating that lotteries run by the state government can be bought online. People also get messages on their phones stating that the Kerala government has started an online lottery, and on spending ₹40 rupees there is a chance to win up to ₹12 crore, it said. When a person sends ₹40 on the number mentioned in the message, they get a fake lottery ticket image on WhatsApp. Later, when the draw time is over, the fraudsters send artificially fabricated results that show that the ticket held has won a prize of ₹5 lakh, the release said. Subsequently, someone claiming to be a government representative calls on the phone and asks the ‘ticket holder’ to transfer a certain amount to a bank account towards ‘GST’ and ‘stamp duty’ to receive the prize money, it said. After the demanded amount is transferred, they ask for more money claiming that the RBI is holding on to the prize. “Victims are provided with artificially produced documents and videos to make every step seem believable,” the SPMC release said. The police have urged the public to be careful not to fall prey to such online lottery scams and to immediately call on the number 1930 if they suspect that a financial fraud is taking place.