Hyderabad: During the recently concluded IPL season, a young entrepreneur from the city made big money online — around Rs 1.5 lakh. But even though these earnings were illegal — won through a betting app — he managed to escape scrutiny. Reason? The funds credited to his account appeared as a refund for a high-value purchase he had supposedly made earlier.
There was only one catch: the products had never actually been purchased. The betting app had masked the winnings as a "shopping refund" to evade the prying eyes of cybercrime investigators.
When TOI dug deeper into the case, it found that this was far from an isolated incident. It unearthed at least a dozen betting apps -- including Dafabet, Zoom999, Sports IndiaDafa, VIP247, Goldyanna365, Winzing247, DiamondExch99 and Taj777 -- using the same modus operandi to rapidly gain popularity among punters.
How the System Works
Individuals are lured to these apps with promises of high returns. Once convinced, they are granted access through an invitation-only system and exposed to a whole gamut of betting options — cricket matches, casino games, card games, virtual sports and live sporting events. The winnings are then routed through merchant channels and presented as routine e-commerce refunds, masking their true origin.
Refund on Clothes and Shoes
A TOI investigation found that the credited winnings appeared in bank statements as refunds for purchases of clothing, footwear, hardware tools, electrical goods, and other products.
"It doesn't show anything related to betting. Whenever I receive money, it looks like a refund from an online shopping site," said a resident of Anand Bagh in Malkajgiri who uses multiple betting platforms. "The transactions show different merchant names. It seems as though I bought something online and later returned it."
Expert Analysis
According to Hyderabad-based cybersecurity expert Raghuram V, the use of refund transactions points to a far more sophisticated operation than conventional online betting.
"The referral-only model, combined with disguised refund transactions, creates multiple layers of anonymity. It reduces visibility for regulators and makes it difficult to identify both users and operators of these networks," he said.
Raghuram said the practice bears characteristics commonly associated with money-laundering techniques. "The disguising of winnings as e-commerce refunds is a deliberate layering strategy. Funds are being made to resemble legitimate merchant activity, obscuring their actual source," he added.
Many of these platforms have also integrated live streaming of IPL matches and real-time score updates, allowing users to place bets while simultaneously watching the matches on the same application.
Hidden Risks
But the platforms also come with hidden risks. A 32-year-old resident of Hayathnagar, for instance, recently found himself trapped after attempting to withdraw around Rs 40,000 that he believed he had won through a betting app. While the amount was credited to his account, the account was frozen when he later tried to make a UPI payment.
"The bank said it was because they had detected a suspicious transaction in my account and suggested that I file a complaint with the cybercrime police," he told TOI. "Since I was worried about legal complications, I chose not to approach the police. As a result, I also lost access to the Rs 17,000 in savings that was lying in the same account," he added.
Challenges for Law Enforcement
A senior cybercrime police officer said agencies are constantly monitoring the evolving payment mechanisms used by illegal betting operators. "These platforms keep changing their payment channels and operational methods. We analyse digital and financial trails whenever specific inputs are received. But it remains a challenge to keep pace with them and crack down on their operations," the officer said.
