By Urmi Bhattacharjee

Guwahati, May 13: Scammers using the widely used messaging platform Telegram have emerged as one of the fastest growing cybercrime threats in Assam. Investigators are now uncovering networks involving fake investment scams, task based earning schemes, mule bank accounts and sophisticated digital fraud rackets worth hundreds and even thousands of crores.

These are no longer small scale scams.

Last year, Assam Police busted an alleged ₹2,200 crore online trading scam in which Telegram and other social media platforms were allegedly used to attract investors. Similarly, Punjab Police arrested four persons from Assam on suspicion of involvement in a nationwide Telegram based fake job and task scam network.

Guwahati has also witnessed a considerable rise in fake investment frauds linked to Telegram channels and social media advertisements. One of the widely reported cases involved a city based doctor who allegedly lost nearly ₹2 crore after falling prey to a fake investment scam circulated through Telegram.

Investigators are now increasingly convinced that these are not isolated incidents, but part of an expanding “shadow digital economy” growing alongside India’s rapidly expanding online financial ecosystem, particularly in digitally growing regions such as Assam and the Northeast.

For many victims, the scam often begins in a surprisingly simple way.

A WhatsApp message may offer ₹150 in exchange for reviewing a Google product. A Telegram group may promise stock market tips or promote a “task based earning” scheme where users are asked to perform simple online activities such as liking YouTube videos or rating hotels.

Some initial payments are often made successfully to the victims.

That is when the psychological trap slowly begins.

According to cyber police officials, most Telegram scams now follow a very similar pattern in which fraudsters gradually build trust before persuading victims to transfer larger amounts of money. Victims are first added to highly active Telegram groups flooded with fake success stories, fabricated profit screenshots and profiles posing as high earning investors. The initial payments made to victims are often genuine and are designed to create confidence that the system is legitimate.

Once victims begin investing larger sums, fraudsters introduce terms such as “unlock fee”, “premium task”, “GST payment”, “withdrawal charges” or “processing tax”. By then, many victims are psychologically committed to recovering their earlier investments and often continue sending more money.

Investigators say Telegram’s structure makes these scams easier to operate and harder to trace. Large groups can be created quickly, user identities can remain hidden, channels can disappear overnight and fraudsters can move across states before law enforcement agencies catch up.

But investigators in Assam are now also noticing another disturbing trend.

In a recent Assam CID case, women’s KYC documents were allegedly collected through a fake handloom training scheme. Investigators suspect the documents were later used to activate SIM cards and open mule bank accounts connected to cyber fraud operations.

Police reportedly recovered over 1,000 KYC forms, multiple bank passbooks, fake SIM cards and biometric devices during the investigation.

The case has raised concerns that economically vulnerable sections, especially women and unemployed youths, may unknowingly be getting pulled into cybercrime networks.

Across India, police investigations have repeatedly found unemployed youths being paid commissions to open or hand over bank accounts later used to route fraud money through mule account chains. Officials suspect similar recruitment patterns may now be emerging in parts of Assam as well.

Another growing concern is that scam ecosystems may gradually begin adapting themselves to local languages and more region specific targeting methods.

The Northeast is witnessing rapid growth in UPI transactions, app based investments, online trading culture and digital lending, especially among younger users. However, cyber awareness and financial literacy have not expanded at the same pace.

Authorities say victims now increasingly come from educated urban backgrounds rather than only elderly or digitally inexperienced populations. Fake investment groups promising quick profits have become especially effective among first time retail investors entering stock trading, crypto discussions and online side income culture.

Critics argue that law enforcement agencies still remain several steps behind rapidly evolving digital fraud systems.

Even when suspicious accounts are frozen quickly, money often moves through multiple layers of mule accounts across several states within hours, while recovery rates remain low compared to the scale of losses.

And as Telegram linked scams continue surfacing across investigations, officials fear Assam may only now be beginning to understand the scale of the ecosystem operating beneath the surface.

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