Indian farmers moonlighted as fake athletes without even realizing it (5 photos)

I love Indian crime! It's the most creative, and it's also full of gullible people who fall for the most unexpected scams. This time, the scammers hired Indian farmers to play cricket. And that was their genius plan.





Bottom line with scores and names of fake teams

International scammers

Police have uncovered an international fraud ring that... created its own national Indian cricket league somewhere near Gujarat! They approached the crime on a grand scale, hiring farmers who were simply playing cricket against each other. The farmers and unemployed men posed as players for teams like the Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, or Gujarat Titans—all familiar names among sports fans. Their matches were streamed live on YouTube for unsuspecting players.



It turns out the world of professional cricket is full of passion and betting.

The scammers made their profits from bets placed by naive spectators. The games looked legitimate, but the players acted on command, hitting sixes, fours, or walking out. Since all the farmers were hired, it was easy to order a specific one to win to drum up interest and maximize bets.

How to profit from an entire fake league





The emotions were very high there, damn interesting to watch!

Hiring an unemployed person to play cricket is very inexpensive, especially for someone with foreign income. So, maintaining the teams wasn't that expensive. And that includes renting the cricket pitch. The field was marked with lines and lit with halogen lamps. The referees looked imposing, wearing uniforms and carrying walkie-talkies, just like at official League games. Professional cameramen filmed the action with high-definition cameras. Farmers were paid 400 rupees per match.



Confiscated equipment from hapless players

The scoreboard, however, was created using graphics; there was no such equipment on the field itself. Even the commentator's voice imitated the famous Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle. To add authenticity to the broadcast, sound effects resembling crowd noise were used, and the cameramen tried to film the players in close-up, avoiding showing the empty spaces around the field. Since everything was broadcast to foreign viewers, they couldn't spot the discrepancies with the petty realities of Indian sport. The league had already accepted a ton of bets via Telegram and had already reached the quarterfinals when Indian police arrived on the field.



The scapegoat, the main puppeteer of the fake cricket league, hasn't been found! What will he do next!

Only four people were arrested out of the entire crowd. The farmers were just playing, what can they do? Of course, it's not as impressive as the scammers who spent months posing as employees of a new police station in the province. But there they only had uniforms, and here they've gone to such lengths to create an illusion! Bollywood has taught us lessons.