IND-NZ Indore ODI ticket fraud exposed:50 tickets offered for ₹3.5 lakh; scammers demand 50% advance payment, refuse face-to-face deals

India and New Zealand are scheduled to lock horns in the third ODI at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on 18 January. While the excitement levels and buzz surrounding the match are sky high, an organised scam for match tickets is also being carried out on social media. The fraudsters have been luring cricket fans and are following a similarly shocking pattern. They offer online tickets, demand 50% of the payment in advance and later, block the customer’s number. To investigate this matter, a Bhaskar reporter posed as a customer seeking tickets for the third ODI. He contacted several scammers claiming to provide tickets on social media. He had also finalised a deal for 50 tickets with one scammer, for a whopping sum of Rs 3.5 lakh. Following continuous complaints, the Indore Crime Branch has also sprung into action and issued an advisory, strictly advising people not to fall for any such traps. Bhaskar reporter poses as customer
Amidst the severe shortage of match tickets, our team began investigating accounts active on social media platforms, especially Instagram,which claimed to easily provide tickets. During this period, conversations were held with more than five different individuals, in which methods such as advance payments, tempting with a large number of tickets, and showing fake screenshots to gain trust prominently emerged. Fraud 1: ‘You will have to trust, you are not the first one’
Upon contacting an Instagram ID named ‘event maneger12′, a mobile number was immediately provided. This number was registered under the name Kavindra Singh Rana on Truecaller. As soon as the conversation began, Rana sent the complete rate list of tickets. The reporter requested four tickets for the South Pavilion. The fraudster then explained the booking process. “For booking, send your name, number of tickets, stand, email ID, mobile number, and full address. 50% of the total amount will have to be paid in advance, after which a QR code ticket will be sent to your email. The hard copy of the ticket will be delivered to your address within 48 hours,” read the message. Our reporter, however, expressed concern about falling victim to online fraud and suggested a face-to-face deal, saying that he could come from Dewas to Indore to collect the ticket. But this offer was declined. He said in an audio message, “50% payment has to be made upfront. We don’t do face-to-face deals. Our tickets are delivered directly through a BCCI member.” When the reporter further pushed him about not receiving the ticket or receiving a fake ticket after making the payment, the scammer tried to reassure him, saying, “It’s a matter of trust. You are not the first person we are giving tickets to. If you need proof, I can provide it.” Immediately after this, he sent screenshots and pictures of some tickets. But as soon as the reporter hesitated to make an online payment, he immediately deleted all the pictures from the chat. The fact that he deleted all the pictures from the chat was a sign that this was a scam. Also read: WATCH | Virat, Kuldeep visit Ujjain’s Mahakaleshwar Temple: Indian cricketers offer prayers ahead of ODI series decider on 18 Jan Fraud 2: Attempted to gain trust by showing Aadhaar card
In the second case, a person named Karan Kumar Garg was spoken to. His post was being officially promoted on Instagram so that it could reach as many people as possible. The reporter asked him for 13 tickets, to which Garg gave him the same rehearsed reply, “Booking will only be online.” When the reporter expressed apprehension of fraud, he said with great confidence, “That doesn’t happen here.” To gain the trust of our reporter, Garg shared screenshots of tickets. The reporter, in a bid to take him into confidence, proposed a collaborative deal by telling him that he also wanted to make a profit by reselling some tickets. Garg reacted to the offer and said, “You take the tickets first, then you can resell them, but the booking method will remain online.” To establish his credibility, he also sent a photo of his Aadhaar card, which listed his address as Chandigarh. However, as soon as the reporter insisted on meeting in Indore, he flatly refused and, within a few minutes, deleted all photos of the Aadhaar card and tickets from the chat. Fraud 3: Deal of 50 tickets and sent barcode
In the third case, another number (9088797001) was contacted. Here too, the pattern of conversation was the same. The person on the other side sent a rate list of tickets and put forward a condition of 50% advance payment. In the name of booking, he asked the reporter for name, mobile number, e-mail ID and full address. For trust, here too, screenshots of ticket pictures and old chats were used. When the reporter, while talking on the call, mentioned a big deal of 50 tickets, the person on the other side got greedy and immediately sent his QR code, so that an advance payment could be received. He claimed that he could provide any number of tickets. Also read: Shreyas Iyer replaces Tilak Varma for 3 T20I-matches against NZ:Returns to shortest format after 2 years; Ravi Bishnoi to play instead of Washington Sundar Similar pattern of fraud in all cases Cyber fraudsters in action after online ticket platform crashed
The scammers found a good opportunity to commit fraud after the online platform, selling tickets, crashed after experiencing heavy traffic. As soon as online ticket sales began at 5 AM on 3 January 3, the platform crashed due to heavy traffic. Millions of users were kept waiting for hours, and most people couldn’t even reach the payment page. Hence, almost 90 per cent of cricket fans were deprived of booking tickets. Within minutes, cheaper tickets like those for the East and West Stands were sold out, while premium category tickets also were sold out within 10 minutes. After the tickets ran out, fans started to express their anger on social media. Holkar Stadium has 30,000 seating capacity, so why fewer tickets available for the general public? The Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore has a total spectator capacity of approximately 30,000 but not all seats are made available to the general public. A large portion of tickets have been reserved for MPCA members, various clubs, and sponsors. Additionally, many tickets go into BCCI/Board quota, players’, and administrative reservations. MPCA decline responsibility for any mismanagement
When Bhaskar spoke to MPCA’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Rohit Pandit on this entire matter, he shirked responsibility for most of the questions. Reporter: How did tickets become available on the black market?
CAO: MPCA can’t do anything about this. People might be selling them in black after purchasing the tickets. Reporter: What action has MPCA taken against those involved in black marketing?
CAO: MPCA can do nothing in this matter. The police have issued an advisory. People should complain to the police themselves. Reporter: Whose responsibility is the fraud happening in the name of tickets?
CAO: MPCA has no role in this either. Also read: Virat Kohli’s no. 1 ODI batter stat corrected by ICC: Apex body wrote 825 days in big blunder, correction made to 1547 days Two arrested in online ticket fraud case According to Additional DCP of Indore Crime Branch Rajesh Dandotiya, there have been several complaints made of fraud in the name of ticket purchase. The police also have also arrested two people accused of committing this fraud. The investigation revealed that the accused would show fake tickets, make people scan UPI QR codes, and block the victims as soon as they received payment. According to the police, scammers are committing fraud in two main ways