60 apps selling fake lotteries online; notices issued to Google and Meta

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The police has sent a notice to Google asking it to remove apps selling fake lotteries of Kerala State Lotteries from the Play Store. Meta has also been given a notice to remove the advertisements of such online lotteries from Facebook.

60 apps selling fake online lotteries were found by the police during cyber patrol. 25 fake Facebook profiles and 20 websites related to fraud were also found. The police informed that those who are behind such fraud will be found and strict legal action will be taken.

It was recently discovered that fake tickets of the Kerala State Lottery are being sold online. Onam bumper lottery tickets with a first prize of 25 crores are being sold online. Kerala Lottery is issued only in paper form and there is no online sale. Scammers are still managing to fool consumers. Although online gambling is prohibited by law in the state, fraud is rampant.

An app was created under the name of Kerala Lottery and Kerala Mega Millions Lottery for the scam. It is reported that more than one million people have already downloaded the app. If the customer gives a desired number, the ticket will be issued accordingly. The app also promises to sell up to 25 tickets in one click. Onam bumper ticket price of Rs 500 per ticket is being charged for the online fake tickets too. The promise is that on winning the lottery, the entire amount will be immediately deposited directly into the customer's account, tax-free.

On April 1, Kerala Kaumudi had reported that lottery fraud was being done through social media by misusing the government symbol and pictures of ministers and officials.