False fortune: Beware the almost identical lotteries website clone

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At one glance, it seems like the original. The colour code is same and the content is near-similar. It even has the correct mascot – the grasshopper.

It takes a second, more closer look to realise that the website, keralamegastatelottary.com, is a fake that mimics the state lotteries department’s official portal, keralalotteries.com.

The lotteries department has repeatedly urged caution against online sale of tickets. The department sells only paper lotteries through authorised agents. Sales through electronic or digital platforms are illegal. Yet, such websites exist. None, however, are as deceptively and deviously similar as keralamegastatelottary.com.

The clone site carries the Kerala government emblem and even the department’s mascot, a grasshopper. It even copies the same introductory para word for word from the official website.

The changes are there, but a little harder to spot at a casual glance. For instance, the postal address given in its homepage is that of the department, but the phone number and email ID provided are of the fraudsters.

Then there are the prominent banner links. In the official website, these are ‘Lottery Results’, ‘Lottery Claim’, ‘Lottery Agents’ and ‘Lottery Structure’. The fake site has replaced the second and fourth ones with ‘Ticket Booking’ and ‘Track Order’’ (these are in a different font).

Upon clicking ‘Ticket Booking’ one is taken to a page where tickets are available under different categories: Basic Ticket (Rs 40), Standard Ticket (Rs 100) and Dhamaka Ticket (Rs 500). Customers can purchase ticket numbers of their choice under each category.