What are Gambling Scams?

With so many people ready to stake money, scammers have spotted golden opportunities to take advantage of others. They exploit the desires of people to gamble and make money. These often come in the form of apps, promising high rewards for small sums of money.

Such apps encourage people to make bets and keep increasing the stakes. The rewards keep getting bigger, pushing people to put more and more. But when someone tries to withdraw the money they won, they are unsuccessful. The whole thing was nothing but a scam, and the money is all gone.

Gambling scams are becoming more prevalent nowadays because of the increasing use of digital payments, gaming and social media advertisements. In 2026, a gang of six men from Navi Mumbai were arrested by the Crime Branch Central Unit teams on the allegation of operating a betting racket using illegal gaming apps. They tricked victims with online betting, stock market trading scams, job scams, etc.
Read on to understand how these gambling scams work.

1. Targeting people. Scammers take advantage of the growing use of social media in today’s age. They begin by advertising their platforms on different platforms. Ads like these include tempting promises to lure anyone with the hope of earning money in a quick and easy manner. The scammers often utilise fake accounts or bots to generate positive comments about the platform. These comments usually share stories of success or of gaining huge amounts of money instantly. However, this is just step one of the scammers building their trust with the victim.
2. Small wins. The next method they employ is not immediately executing the scam but letting the victim win some money at first. This would encourage them to bet with even larger amounts moving forward, with a sense of optimism after repeated attempts of success. After a series of small wins, it’s only after the larger amount is invested that the scam gets executed.
3. The platform suddenly stops working. It asks for your account verification or for a payment to be made for money to be returned. If you try contacting customer support, then it shows as unavailable. Any method to retrieve your money disappears.

1. Game match scams. These scams usually occur around game matches such as a cricket match. They either take place as a betting scheme for you to win money (however, the system is rigged; winning money is never in your cards. At first, small amounts may be received to earn your trust) or a prediction scheme. They sell “confirmed predictions”. When they receive the money, they disappear.
2. Betting websites. These are the most prevalent ones. They are built to look authentic. Once a user “wins” after betting money, the return payment is often delayed to the point it’s never paid or the system stops responding.
3. Get-rich-quick scams. They promise you double the amount in return if you pay a small sum of money.
4. Lottery scams. Such scams involve winning a lottery that you never applied for. It requires paying a sum of money to receive the lottery, as a sort of tax or customary charge.

The main reason is, of course, to win easy money. They believe it’s a good way to earn some extra money or to find financial relief by using the money earned.

The illusion of a gambling/betting facade also means it’s a thrill-seeking experience. You want to win and be rewarded for it. The method of early success just increases one’s greed and optimism and makes them continue betting, larger amounts even.

They see fake “evidence” of people winning or achieving success through these schemes, and it feels credible. Features like false statistics or prediction data make the victim believe that this may be different. But the hard reality is that everything is manipulated to deceive the victim. Flashy statements like winning double the money create a sense of excitement and hope in people, making them take a risk.

Always remember to check for licensing or proper authentication. Moreover, most Indian states have legally prohibited gambling and betting.

If you’re trapped in a gambling scam, freeze all your assets and report it immediately. You can do so by filing a report to the police or on online portals such as the National Cyber Crime Reporting portal. The quicker you act, the higher the chances of less damage.

Gambling scams are built on the thrill and hope they can create in the victims, with the promises of earning quick money. There is no “easy” way to earn money; more often than not, it’s psychological manipulation or a way to exploit you and make you take a chance. To be safe, one should always be wary in cases like these.

In actual gambling, there is financial risk within the system itself, but in a scam, the whole system is built around you never getting your money back.