As the country is approaching the last phase of the mega-electoral event, the Lok Sabha elections, reports suggested that illegal betting is attaining new peaks.
Not only the Lok Sabha Elections, but illegal betting has also grabbed India’s most-watched sporting event, the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Last month itself, the E-Gaming Federation of India (EGF), which represents legitimate e-sports and fantasy gaming companies, approached the government, seeking an outright ban on these unscrupulous fly-by-night operators that have been flagrantly violating laws.
The election campaigns have drawn attention of the fraudsters who are looking to exploit the opportunity to siphon money from Indian betting-savvy users via offshore websites.
mFilterIt, a platform providing transparency and safety in the digital ecosystem, has recently released a report detecting such websites that take bets on Lok Sabha Elections and IPL, and transaction laundering via mule accounts.
Also Read: What is ‘Mule Accounts’ fraud? Experts suggest 5 safety tips
In an interaction with ETBFSI, Dhiraj Gupta, Co-Founder and CTO, mFilterIt shared how these websites are offering illegal bets to users.
“For instance, Fairplay, which offers bets on IPL, has a new tab for Lok Sabha Election 2024, bets to lure their existing betters to bet on elections as well,”the CTO told.
“Sites such as JannatBook, om247, jaibook, satsport247, bacardi777 are offering poll bets. Most of these operate from outside India,” he added.
Further, there are websites that are offering a bid amount of Rs 100 to 100,000.
They provide the users with options like BJP will win a seat from a particular assembly. These websites and apps take bets over the results, margins of victory and political party performance state-wise, amid other parameters.
In order to place a bet, people can choose between ‘Back’ and ‘Lay’ options.
UPI used as a mode of payment
Another surprising fact that has surfaced is that these illegal activites are using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for making the payment.
“These Websites are blatantly exploiting the UPI system to collect payments via proxy or mule bank accounts. Illicit channels such as Hawala and cryptocurrency are used to transfer money offshore,” the CTO said.
“These mule accounts are usually owned by regular people, who are either tricked into opening these accounts or knowingly use these accounts at the behest of some monetary payments,”he added.
At the deposit section, they can be seen offering Paytm UPI, QR Code, Google Pay, Quick Bank transfer, and PhonePe options.
However, it is to be noted that the UPI is not legally allowed on such websites.
Last year, on the recommendation of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) ordered the blocking of 138 offshore betting sites engaged in gambling.
Stock Market traders turning to illegal betting platforms for cue
According to news agency Reuters, the traders in India’s stock market are turning to illegal election betting platforms for clues to combat the uncertainty regarding the outcome of the ongoing general elections.
In the weeks leading up to the vote counting on June 4, the market has been keenly observing the trends on shadow-betting platforms, which have become widespread across the country, the report said.
