Udupi: A woman from Udupi has allegedly lost Rs 27.06 lakh after falling victim to a fake lottery scam promoted through Facebook.
According to the complaint filed by Juliana, she came across an advertisement for an online lottery titled ‘Kerala Mega Jackpot’ on Facebook. She clicked on the link provided in the advertisement and purchased a lottery ticket.
Woman told she had won lottery
Later, unidentified persons allegedly contacted Juliana and informed her that she had won a lottery prize.
The callers reportedly told her that she needed to pay various charges, including processing, shipping, forex and handling fees, to claim the prize.
Trusting their claims, Juliana allegedly transferred a total of Rs 27,06,862 to several bank accounts provided by the unidentified persons.
According to the complaint, the transfers were made between April 24 and July 31, 2026.
Lottery prize never arrived
When Juliana failed to receive the promised lottery winnings despite making the payments, she realised that she had allegedly been duped.
Based on her complaint, the Udupi CEN Crime Police Station registered a case under Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act and Sections 316(2) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The Police are investigating the alleged online lottery fraud and the bank accounts to which the money was transferred.