EOW starts probe against fantasy sports website for cheating users
New Delhi: The EOW of the Delhi Police has now landed a case where they have initiated inquiries against a fantasy sports website by the erstwhile name of Sports World 11, which allegedly cheated over 20 people in the city by promising expensive prizes and high returns on playing their game. However, complaints in the case have shown that some people were not awarded the prizes or the promised returns even after achieving game objectives. EOW received a total of 25 complaints against the company that later launched an SW11 fantasy sports mobile application.
One complainant in the case told investigators that he was introduced to this company by his friend as he told him that there was a good opportunity to make Rs 90 per day for 365 days by investing a lump-sum of Rs 9,000 during enrollment. "So I visited the website of the company www.sportsworld11.com and I found everything as my friend told me and also with a highlighted slogan win or lose earn always. So as per interest, I invested Rs 99,000 after which I started getting Rs 90 per day," he said.
The company did seminars and after the lockdown, they started to reach people through the Zoom app. The company then shut down all their operations from March 22 for approximately two months. "But the company came back with some new interesting games in the application named SW11 application," the complainant said.
He further said, "Now, when I realised that the company is reliable and we are getting good returns, I invested more in the first week of June (over Rs 3 lakh) after which the company ran only till June 26 and shut down everything."
Later, the company updated the SW11 application in which they offered more prizes on making a new team such as an Android smartphone, watches or a power bank but the complainant received none of these prizes even after achieving the targets in the application.
Company officials told the complainant at the time that three employees had tested COVID-19 positive and all the staff members were quarantined and in the mobile application, they sent a notification that they will be back in 20 days but it never happened, the complainant added. When the complainant contacted the company staff, all phone numbers were switched off.
The Delhi Police said that they received complaints from 25 people against the company and during the investigation, a case under sections 420, 409 and 120 B of the IPC was registered at the EOW police station.
