On the Tamil Nadu vs Kerala Lottery Guessing Group on Facebook, 28-year-old Vijay from Coimbatore goes by the name ‘Vijay Loki KL.’ He doles out the last three digits of the 6-digit Kerala lottery numbers on WhatsApp, guaranteeing a bumper prize. “I am an agent and I will help you win,” he says on the group, displaying his number and the picture of a Kerala lottery ticket.

Official version

The Kerala State Lotteries Department said they were aware of such groups on FB. “We are aware of such groups. We inform the cyber cell of the Kerala police as and when we come to know of a group,” says Anil Bhaskar, lottery publicity officer and public relations officer, Directorate of Lotteries, Government of Kerala.

The groups were proliferating and the directorate could not do anything directly without involving the police to curb them, he said.