Create awareness about lottery fraud: Bombay high court to Maharashtra government

The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the state home department to write to mobile service and email service providers to make their customers aware about online lottery fraud and restrain them from being lured by some messages.

A division bench of Justice VM Kanade and Justice Anuja Prabhudessai also directed banks to follow the Know You Customer (KYC) guidelines strictly. The state has also been told to create awareness by advertising to ensure that citizens don't get lured by the online fraud.

The directions were given during the hearing of a petition filed by a farmer from Nashik, Namdev Warade, who lost around Rs29 lakh in 2010. Warade claimed that in 2010, he received a message on his mobile phone stating that his number was selected in an online lottery held in London and he was eligible to receive USD 5 lakh. He had lodged a complaint with Nashik police.

After a probe, the police arrested one accused who is in judicial custody. However, 15 other accused are absconding. The police have filed a charge sheet against the accused and further investigations are on.

Warade sought that the probe be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The bench refused to grant this prayer but directed the state to file a compliance report after two weeks.