While not a sport that’s caught on in North America, cricket is one of the world’s biggest sports and draws tremendous action on international betting markets, with so much interest that people can apparently be easily conned into betting on fake games.
This week a fake “Indian Premier Cricket League,” pretending to mimic the real IPL, got broken up after weeks of conning Russian bettors into wagering on fake matches played on a farm and broadcast online with laborers dressing up as fake players. The game broadcasts featured just one camera angle tight on the pitch, never showing a wide angle of the “stadium” they were playing in, using fake crowd noise, so when the ball got hit off screen, a fake referee would make up calls based on what bettors had bet on to make them the most money.
The video of the broadcast is particularly hilarious.
Here it is, the moment you’ve all been waiting for….
Footage of the Fake IPL, which somehow conned people in Russia into betting on it.
‘Chennai Fighters’ off to a solid start, pitch looking in good condition. pic.twitter.com/XtaL5W5zli
— Jordan Elgott (@JElgott) July 11, 2022
Per the BBC, they managed to pull this off for weeks, taking bets online on a site they set up, despite the actual IPL having long since finished its actual season before police stepped in.
The conmen managed to reach the quarter-finals stage of their so-called “Indian Premier Cricket League” before police stopped play.
Russian gamblers placed bets on a Telegram channel set up by the gang, who then alerted the fake umpire using walkie-talkies, police inspector Bhavesh Rathod told reporters.
The fake umpire would then “signal the bowler and batsman to hit a six, four or get out”, Mr Rathod said.
Four people were arrested and the fake league was shut down, with the take being approximately $4,000 (which is 300,000 rupees) for the scam before they got caught.
