Hyderabad woman loses ₹5 lakh in lottery scam; FIR registered
HYDERABAD: A 58-year-old woman from Gajularamaram lost ₹5,01,583 to unknown fraudsters who lured her with fake lottery advertisements on Facebook, police said in an FIR registered on April 7, 2026.
The complainant, a homemaker residing at Balaji Layout, Gajularamaram, told police that she first saw a “Punjab Lottery” advertisement on Facebook on February 27, 2026. She clicked the link and paid ₹200 through UPI to a mobile number to purchase a lottery.
Soon after, she received a call in Hindi informing her that she had won ₹10 lakh. The caller said she would receive the amount after completing certain formalities.
Repeated calls
The caller later demanded money under various heads, including tax, GST, online charges, NOC certificate, conversation charges, travelling charges and CBI charges. Believing the claims and videos shown on Facebook, she paid the amounts whenever asked.
The complainant said she later saw advertisements for “Kerala Lottery” and “Maharaja Lottery” and bought two more tickets. She was then contacted from another two different mobile numbers, with similar demands for additional payments.
Suspecting Fraud
Police said the victim transferred ₹5,01,583 in multiple UPI transactions from February to April 2, 2026, using her Bank account.
When the callers continued demanding more money, she suspected fraud and verified the claims. She then realised that unknown persons had cheated her in the name of lottery schemes.
Police registered a case and began investigation to trace the suspects. The FIR states that the accused lured the victim through fake lottery advertisements and collected money under the pretext of prize processing charges.
