It appears that a new wave of crime emerges almost daily with petty theft and burglary undergoing a significant transformation as individuals delve into the novel realms of the virtual world.
Guwahati finds itself at the epicentre of this evolving landscape.
Recent accounts detail a range of cybercrimes plaguing the city, spanning from monetary scams to the alarming phenomenon of cyber kidnapping, now a recognised term in law enforcement circles.
Just last week, a woman residing in Chandmari experienced a distressing incident. She received a WhatsApp call from an unfamiliar, non-Indian number. The caller, posing as a police official, enquired about her daughter, who had recently relocated to Hyderabad.
Shockingly, the impersonator claimed that her daughter had been raped in Hyderabad, even mentioning both the daughter's and father's names, the latter having accompanied her to the city. The mother, understandably shaken, hastily ended the call to reach out to her daughter, only to discover that both she and her father were safe and sound.
This is just one instance. In the last month, several other similar instances have surfaced.
Another girl also recounted when her mother received a WhatsApp call from a number whose display picture was that of a man in uniform. The man told the mother that her daughter had been raped and also asked her for a huge amount. It was fortunate that she didn’t fall for the scam, but not everyone is so lucky.
A woman in Maligaon was scammed of ₹30,000 after she received a call from a number alleging that her son had been kidnapped. The man said all the right things starting from the son’s name to appearance. By the time the son returned home, it was too late for her. She had already paid the ransom and was in the process of paying more.
But the grave question which is to be asked is how are they getting all these details?
Talking to GPlus, a senior official from the Guwahati Police Cyber Division shed light on these scams that have been going around the city.
The official said, “The cyber crimes have reached a whole new level. It’s no longer just sharing OTP. People are using AI to distort their voice to sound like your loved ones and extract the money from the vulnerable.”
Asked how Guwahati Police is tracking numbers, the official said, “These are again AI-generated numbers that do not exist, like normal phone numbers. Some even mask their true location and give us the illusion that the numbers are from Pakistan or Myanmar. What we do know is these scammers buy a lot of phone numbers from Telegram, the messaging platform.”
“We have requested Telegram to share the details with us but we have never received any help from them.”
In Guwahati, on a daily average, a minimum of 15-20 lakh is being scammed out of people.
Online scamming has become as common as pickpocketing in a crowded bus. All you need is data on people which is available in abundance in the black market. Every single click online is extracting our data and compiling it, getting it ready to be eventually sold to the highest bidder.
Sounds paranoid? The official further said, “Instead of focusing on prevention, we are all focusing on detection. We need to get to the source of the data leak. Who’s providing these people with our data.”
“But these scammers are playing a whole new ball game and we are struggling to survive. We don’t have the right upgraded tools to go after them. Like this we will always come close to catching and not be able to catch them,” he said.
On April 18, eight people were arrested by Hatigaon Police Station for their involvement in various cyber offences. The official mentioned that among these eight, four were detained who had come from West Bengal to collect account details and other data from Assam. There is a whole network that runs the scam – starting with someone who only collects the data to the ones whose accounts get credited with the victims’ money.
Maybe it is time Guwahati Police upped their game and understood that these are not like the common criminals they have always run after.
With the right training and tools, the people of Guwahati would be able to live in a more secure virtual world.
