Indian scammers faked a cricket season and conned Russian gamblers out of their money

In the greatest sporting example of “fake it till you make it,” a group of farm hands and unemployed youth in a small town in Gujarat, India faked weeks of Indian Premier League cricket for an audience of Russian gamblers.

The “season” made it all the way to the quarterfinals, before police learned of the fake league and busted up the fraud. Still, for a few magical weeks, gamblers gave their money to the league, watched live streams of matches, and had no idea they were watching a bunch of random dudes playing fixed cricket, and not one of the most lucrative sports in the world.

Anyone who knows the sport is aware the Indian Premier League ended three weeks before the fake league began, but that still wasn’t enough to tip off the would-be gamblers. Hired players were each paid 400 rupees a game (approximately $5 USD), and given replica jerseys of the Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans. Umpires, believed to be the league organizers, communicated via walkie talkie to get updated information on where betting action was coming from, and directly communicated with players on what they had to do in order to ensure gamblers were losing.

Streamed on YouTube, the league even offered cricket seminars for Russian bettors, so they could better understand the game before putting their money down.

The obvious question is “how did a bunch of random people play cricket at a level that could fool anyone into thinking they were pros?” and the answer comes with a little movie magic. The scammers knew their group of hired ringers wouldn’t be enough to fool even the most cricket-ignorant gambler, so they used numerous camera techniques and tricks to ensure people wouldn’t know. Close ups of players were never shown, just in case a bettor would Google the player and noticed they looked nothing alike. Players were also instructed to loft the ball in the air, at which time the camera would cut to a quick pan of the sky, before returning to the umpire who would signal a four or six.

The production, although hilariously crude compared to the actual IPL, had some chops behind it. Organizers used five HD cameras to shoot the action, and installed floodlights on the farmland that served as their fake cricket stadium. The league had announcers, its own score ticket, and analysts who sold the entire production. There was little reason to doubt its veracity for a group of gamblers in Russia who’d likely never seen cricket before — especially ones who were onboarded into cricket gambling by the scammers in the first place.

The now-deleted YouTube channel served as the only video record of the league, though a few clips are making the rounds today. The four organizers of the scam league have been arrested by local police, with the possibility of more charges to come. For now, we can just appreciate the stunning ingenuity of this group to turn a dusty Indian farm into their own Field of Dreams, and scam a bunch of gamblers in the process.