Another online lottery scam has deceived gullible youth, was unearthed on Tuesday in Madurai. This has been the case of witch hunt for fast money by youth, who easily are trapped by scammers. Big amounts coax any one into the trap. The police received a complaint from M Senthil Krishnan (27) of Viswanathapuram in Madurai that he received an SMS from an unknown number, which said he had received a prize amount of Rs.5.50 Cr, in a Mobile number lottery.

In the SMS there was a number to be called and the eager youth called the number. The recipients of the call informed that he had to deposit an amount of Rs.5.10 lakhs in three different accounts towards taxes for the bumper prize. The youth lured by the huge sum, borrowed the money and paid into the accounts, as instructed. But there was no response from the caller hence forth. The youth tried calling the numbers desperately, but the numbers were switched off. Frustrated over the duping, Senthil launched a complaint with the Madurai Central Crime Branch (CCB) wing police. And they are investigating the case.

The impostors may have used fake identities and overseas SIM cards in the scam to cheat Senthil, police said, adding a case of online fraud was registered against the unidentified culprits and search was on.