After Assam, Meghalaya Hit by Online Scams, 2 Arrested

A person in Garo Hills was defrauded of Rs 17,000 when money was siphoned off from him in the name of a politician from the area.

Scamsters and conmen are on the prowl as Meghalaya seems to be in the grip of a well-organised network of fraudsters who have been calling people impersonating as political leaders, VIPs and even the Director General of Police and asking for money.

Not just this, people of the state are losing crores of rupees in Ponzi scam, courier scam and other investment scams. This has been revealed to Northeast Live by SP (Sadar), Pankaj Kumar Rasgania in an exclusive conversation today.

Online scammers are impersonating prominent politicians, leaders, police officials, and bureaucrats by creating fake WhatsApp accounts and exploiting people through online payment transfer apps.

“In WhatsApp impersonation, the fraudsters impersonate as very well-known leaders like political leaders, and public officials like DGP and ask for money saying that I am in need of this money urgently. Once they get the money, they completely stop all the communication,” said SP (Sadar), Pankaj Kumar Rasgania.

In one case, a person in Garo Hills was defrauded of Rs 17,000 when money was siphoned off from him in the name of a politician from the area. This incident occurred on Saturday.

SP Rasgania said that notices have been served to as many as 50 people, and two arrests have been made so far in connection with the Ponzi scam where at least 700 people have been duped of over Rs 1 crore.

Meghalaya has seen a sharp rise in cybercrime cases in the recent years.

In 2022, the National Cyber Crime Helpline Number 1930 received 1,069 complaints. This year, the number has seen an eight-fold increase at 8,414.

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