- A Chinese national managed to dupe 1,200 people in Gujarat through a football betting app.
- Through the scam, the victims lost around Rs 1,400 crore in nine days.
- Here’s a detailed look at the football betting app scam.
In what could serve as an enticing plot for a Netflix movie, a Chinese man came to India and gathered a few locals to create a football betting app, and even scammed 1,200 people. The scam resulted in the victims losing around Rs 1,400 crore in just nine days. Here’s a detailed look at how the scam was carried out.
Football betting app scam
- An investigation was carried out by the Gujarat police who formed an SIT, and later found that the scammer Woo Uyanbe from China’s Shenzhen region, according to a report by TOI.
- It was discovered that the scam took place in Patan and Banaskantha districts of Gujarat with the victims hailing from north Gujarat. This is where the scammer spent time during 2020 and 2022, and mingled with the locals promising them wealth, the report added.
- According to CID (Crime Investigation Department) officers part of the investigation, the app was launched in May 2022, and existed for only nine days. During this time, Uyanbe stole Rs 200 crore per day through football games on the app.
- The userbase included individuals from almost all age groups as low as 15, and as high as 75. It was only after the app disappeared that people realised they were scammed.
The CID cyber cell managed to nab nine people involved in the scam. These people reportedly helped Uyanbe move the money around by setting up shell companies, and transferring it through hawala networks. Although the investigation was successful in terms of uncovering the scam, and finding out the culprit but they couldn’t capture him.
Uyanbe had already fled to China, and due to lack of evidence the officials haven’t been able to go ahead with his extradition process. He’s still active though with his scams, and is reportedly running his network in Shenzen, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
