Tamil Nadu native arrested for running fake online Kerala lottery racket

The Thiruvananthapuram City Cyber Crime Police arrested a Tamil Nadu native for allegedly operating fraudulent websites that impersonated the Kerala State Lotteries and cheated people by claiming to sell Kerala lottery tickets online.

The accused has been identified as Dinesh A., 25, of Pattukkottai in Thanjavur. According to the police, he created websites designed to resemble the official Kerala government lottery portal by using the Kerala Lotteries name, official logos and government address to mislead customers. The websites advertised that Kerala lottery tickets could be purchased online and promoted the service extensively through social media.

The police said the accused allegedly sent QR codes, UPI payment details and other digital payment options to prospective buyers through WhatsApp. Victims who transferred money were promised that lottery tickets would be dispatched to them by parcel.

Three websites

The investigation found that the accused had operated three websites, keralalotteryonlinebuy.com, keralalotteryonlinepurchase.com and keralalotteryonlinebooking.com, through which several people were allegedly duped. The fraud came to light after victims approached the State Lottery department, which subsequently lodged a complaint with the Thiruvananthapuram Cyber Crime Police.

The investigators traced the accused by analysing the WhatsApp numbers used in the operation, domain registration details of the websites and UPI payment information. The accused has been remanded to judicial custody.

District Police Chief (Thiruvananthapuram City) Arul R.B. Krishna warned the public that Kerala State Lottery tickets are not sold online through websites or social media platforms. He urged people to remain vigilant against such fraudulent offers and advised victims of online financial fraud or cybercrime to report complaints through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) or by calling the NCRP helpline number 1930.