The Kerala Police have issued a notice to Google asking it to take down around 60 phony apps from Play Store that claim to sell online lotteries of the Kerala Lotteries department.
Kerala Lotteries operates only paper lotteries. It does not have online lotteries.
A notice has been issued to Meta asking it to remove advertisements for the fake online lotteries from Facebook, the State police said on Wednesday.
25 fake Facebook profiles
An investigation unearthed 60 phony apps professing to sell the online lotteries. It also revealed 25 fake Facebook profiles and 20 related website.
Fake advertisements promoting online lotteries bearing names such as ‘Kerala Megamillion Lottery,’ ‘Kerala Summer Season Dhamaka’ have been doing the rounds on social media platforms including WhatsApp, Telegram, and Instagram. The ads claim that the State government has launched online lotteries costing ₹40 per ticket with prizes as high as ₹12 crore.
The buyer receives an image of the lottery ticket on WhatsApp on remitting the ticket price to a mobile number mentioned in the advertisement. Once the ‘draw’ is over, the results are faked and the buyer is given the impression that he/she has won ₹ 5 lakh.
Next stage
In the next stage of fraud, the buyer gets a call from an individual posing as a government official. For receiving the prize money, the buyer is asked to transfer money to cover the Goods and Services Tax and stamp duty. Once the money is transferred, the buyer is tricked into transferring an additional sum, claiming that the Reserve Bank of India has withheld the prize.
The police have warned the public to be on guard against frauds involving fake lotteries. Victims of such activities have been advised to notify the police on the number 1930.
The Lotteries department also has warned the public not to buy lottery tickets online. They should be purchased only from recognised agencies and vendors, the department said.
