THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Fake applications and social media pages have started to be removed, which have done online fraud in the name of online participants of Kerala lottery. The action came after the Kerala Police's cyber operations department issued a notice to Google and META after detecting fakes.

Applications named Kerala Mega million Lottery and Kerala Summer Season Dhamaka are no longer available on Play store since yesterday. Kerala Kaumudi had reported that fake tickets are being sold in the name of online version of Kerala lottery which is only in paper form. After noticing fake lottery apps, Lottery Director Abraham Wren informed the cyber operations department of Kerala Police on Monday.

60 fake apps, 25 fake Facebook profiles and 20 websites were found during the 24-hour long cyber patrol. Notice was immediately given to Google and Meta, but there was no response. With this, Cyber Operations SP Harishankar contacted Google's India Nodal Officer and explained the seriousness. Later, yesterday afternoon, Google replied that 25 fake applications have been removed. Google officials have also informed that further action will be taken after checking in detail. Till last day, more than 10 lakh people had downloaded the fake app.

The primary information is that Malayalis are behind the online lottery fraud. The gangs are conducting the fraud in foreign countries. The information (KYC) provided by fraudsters is collected to launch applications and social media pages. As soon as Google and Meta share the information, the cyber operations department will take further action.