A 45-year-old woman from Bengaluru was recently scammed out of over Rs. 18 lakh in a lottery scam involving scratch cards. The incident began on January 28, 2024, when Sanjana, a resident of Annapurneshwari Nagar, received an envelope supposedly from an e-commerce platform. It contained a scratch card and instructions.
Business Today reported that Sanjana scratched the card and discovered she had won Rs. 15.51 lakh. The scammers convinced her to share pictures of the letter, scratch card, envelope, and her ID card for verification.
They falsely claimed she needed to pay a 30 percent tax to claim her winnings because lotteries are illegal in Karnataka. Over the next few months, Sanjana transferred Rs. 18,40,168 to the scammers via RTGS.
The fraudsters eventually disappeared, and Sanjana never received any prize money. She reported the incident to cybercrime authorities. The police have registered a case under the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code.
Scratch card scams exploit people’s desire for easy money. To protect against such scams, it’s important to be careful of unverified scratch cards, especially those asking for fees or personal details to claim prizes. Often digital versions are used to create the illusion of a lottery win, and later to scam the user.
It’s important to verify the authenticity of promotions with the sponsoring company and not to share sensitive information with unknown parties.