A 50-year-old man from Surathkal lost ₹1.85 lakh to a person who duped him of winning a Kerala lottery.In the complaint filed at the Surathkal Police Station, the victim said he saw an advertisement on Facebook on May 29 for a Kerala lottery. The advertisement claimed that the draw of the lottery, a ticket for which costs ₹50 each, will be on the same day.The victim called the number mentioned in the advertisement. The receiver identified himself as Naveen and sent the victim the lottery numbers. The victim chose two numbers and sent ₹100 using a link sent by the call receiver.The victim received a call in the evening that he had won ₹ 12 lakh in a lottery with one number. The victim sent his account details and Aadhaar number. Then, the victim first sent ₹24,981, which was stated as tax for the lottery winning amount. The victim further transferred ₹58,760 and ₹89,895.When he did not receive any amount in return, the victim went to Thiruvananthapuram on June 2 and found from the lottery office that he had been given a fake lottery.The victim’s complaint seeking action against the fraudsters was registered by the Surathkal police. The police said efforts were on to trace the fraudsters. Published - June 05, 2026 09:13 pm IST