Hyderabad: An MBA graduate, who lost over Rs 50 lakh and a friend to online cricket betting, became a whistleblower helping police crackdown on a sophisticated online betting syndicate.
The 27-year-old was defrauded by “guaranteed TOSS FIX” predictions promoted by influencers on social media, losing more than Rs 50 lakh since December 2023. His friend died by suicide in December 2024 after losing around Rs 60 lakh to the same scheme.
Following the devastating losses, the graduate decided to expose the fraudsters. The information provided by him led the Cyberabad Police Commissionerate in June this year to register cases and arrest five online influencers, effectively dismantling a sophisticated online betting syndicate operating through the influencers, unauthorised betting websites, and mule accounts.
This network systematically deceived youth with false promises of match-fixing tips and used aggressive social media campaigns to lure them into illegal gambling platforms.
The whistleblower on Tuesday said the ordeal began in December 2023 when he was pursuing his master’s degree.
He clicked on a social media advertisement, which redirected him to an influencer’s channel. The admin of the channel gave tips regarding cricket betting, he said. The influencers offered “guaranteed predictions” and directed them to place bets on the betting websites they are promoting.
“I followed the tips and sometimes they were correct. I got into betting and placed bets using the salary of my part-time job and borrowed from friends and family members. But, you start losing money, they will make you lose money. If you don’t lose money they will not earn. The influencers are promoting betting websites and earning fixed payments based on their social media channel followers. They dupe victims by posting false promotional content in the group and with fake followers,” he said.
He said he lost over Rs 50 lakh while his friend from Bhopal lost Rs 60 lakh in betting. Unable to handle the financial pressure his friend died by suicide in December 2024.
Subsequently, he decided to take on the fraudsters and posed as a representative of a betting site and contacted the influencers, the MBA graduate told PTI on Tuesday.
“Finally, I got this feeling I have to take on at least now. The influencers who are cheating should be arrested, punished and their channels shut. I did not want others to suffer. As I had my international (mobile) number, I randomly texted them (influencers) stating I own a betting website and asked them to promote the site. I joined their channels and monitored their activities. I gathered personal details about the influencers and approached the police with the details,” he said.
According to police, the victim-turned-whistleblower shared the details of the fraudsters. “He was quite proactive in giving us details about the accused and helped the police in apprehending the accused,” an official said.
The police has already forwarded a request to take down the four social media channels run by fraudsters and efforts are on to track the betting site operators.
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
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